That's Just How It Is
by dancerxforlifex3
Summary: Max moves from Montana to sunny Florida and befriends mysterious Fang. The two are great friends but also somehwat have feelings for each other underneath, despite the fact that Fang has a girlfriend. Sorry for the bad summary :P Enjoy!
1. Homesick

**Hi peoples!**

**Okay so this is my first story.. ever. so this might not be that good :/**

**Disclaimer: I only own the three packs of Juicy Fruit in my purse, not Maximum Ride. That honor goes to Mr. Patterson.**

Chapter One  
>Max POV<p>

Without hesitation, I stepped onto the diving board and padded to the edge, curling my toes lightly. I bounced experimentally a couple times, testing the springs and waiting for the wind to shift. Wait for it. . .there! The breeze was perfect. I backed up a couple quick steps and ran the short distance, launching myself off the board. I sliced smoothly into the water in a simple dive, not in the mood to show off at the community pool. I saved my competitive side for my swimming team.

_But it's not like I'll ever see them again_, I thought bitterly to myself. _Now that I'm in Florida and they're still Montana_. I'd always thought it was kinda ironic how my mom had gotten a new job all the way across the country, as far from Montana as you could get. But what could I do about it? I couldn't just force her to stay in Montana so I could still compete on my usual teams.

The only upside to this was the community pool. It was only two blocks from our new house, a distance I could easily bike in about three minutes. It was usually pretty quiet here; most people liked to swim at the beach or at the YMCA, where they had heated indoor pools. But I could swim just about anywhere. I loved sports. Most of my old friends had said I was the most athletic person they'd ever met. I guess you could say it was true; I did swimming, gymnastics, soccer, softball, volleyball, and ice skating. Altough that last one probably wasn't an option anymore in sunny Florida. Oh, and I'd been the track & field star in my old school to top it all off. That had started when I got the fastest time on the mile and the gym teacher convinced me to join the track team. Oh and one more thing. I play guitar and sing.

I have a lot on my plate.

I sighed and swam over to the ladder, irritation clouding my initially good mood. I jogged over to the bench where I'd left my bag. I quickly dried myself off and slid on my t-shirt and track shorts, shaking out my wet hair as I did so. I tied it up so it couldn't annoy me anymore, which is pretty much what I do all the time, no matter how much it annoys my girly-girl sister Ella.

"Excuse me?" a voice called from behind me. I turned around to see a tall, lanky boy with strawberry blond hair and ice blue eyes staring at me.

"Yeah?" I said as I slid on my flip flops. I wanted to get out of there, ASAP if I wanted any time in the gym before it closed.

"I couldn't help but notice your shirt," he continued, gesturing to my shirt with his chin. Confused, I looked down. It was my Billings Sharks t-shirt. The Sharks was the name of my swimming team back in Montana.

"What about it?" I asked, bouncing slightly on my toes. I really wanted to get out of there.  
>"I saw your team on the news once," he explained, smiling slightly. "I'm pretty sure I saw you."<p>

"Oh. You mean when we made it to Nationals?" I asked. Talk to me about sports and I'll go on forever.

He nodded. "Yeah. I think so. I saw your diving. You're really good." He looked kinda awestruck now.

"Thanks," I mumbled, embarassed. "I gotta go. See ya around?"

"Sure," he said, smiling. "My name's Jeff Griffiths. You can just call me Iggy though."

"Hey, Iggy," I said with a smile. "I'm Maximum Ride. Just call me Max, though."

He grinned and turned towards the diving board. "See ya, Max," he called over his shoulder.

"Bye," I muttered, too quiet for him to hear, and jogged out. I glanced at the time when I was passing through the lobby. Dang it! It was already 4:00. The YMCA would be closing in about an hour. I hoped I would get there in time.

Once out in the warm sun again, I hopped on my bike and pedaled off as fast as I could. Hopefully the gymnastics floor would still be open.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, I was at the suprisingly nice YMCA. I parked and locked my bike in the bike rack and walked inside. There was a little lobby inside with a stack of papers on the check-in desk that looked like maps. On the wall behind the desk was a huge corkboard with a bunch of flyers for new teams and clubs and stuff.<p>

"Hi, can I help you?" asked the auburn-haired receptionist behind the desk. "I'm Megan."

"I'm Max," I blurted, before realizing she'd asked me a question before.

Megan smiled. "Hey, Max. Anything in particular you're looking for today?"

I cleared my throat. "Do you have a gymnastics floor here?"

"Sure, you just do down that hallway; there's an elevator down there. Take it to the second floor, and the gymnastics floor is the third door on the right. Locker rooms are over there." Megan pointed to two doors next to the bathrooms. "Let me know if there's anything else you need," she said, smiling warmly at me.

"Thanks," I mumbled, heading towards the locker room. I changed into my favorite white tank top with my lucky green one layered on top. I'd been wearing it when I'd fallen off the roof and hadn't broken a bone. I slid on my shorts and stuffed my bathing suit into my bag. My hair was still limp and wet from swimming. Ugh. I tugged a comb through my tangled locks quickly, then put it into a quick fishtail braid. **(A/N: Sorry. I just had to put fishtails in here somewhere :D)** Ella had taught me how to do fishtails a long time ago, and I guess it just stuck with me, even though I couldn't care less about hairstyles. I headed off to find the gymnastics floor, dragging my sports bag behind me.

I'm usually not much of a cheerleading-gymnastics person, but it helps when I need to burn off energy. That was the only reason I did it. Otherwise it was way too girly.

It wasn't hard to find the gymnastics floor. The door was bright red and had **GYMNASTICS** written on it in bright yellow lettering. I pushed open the door and inhaled to smell of lemony floor cleaner and brand new mats. The same smell in my gymnastics studio at home. That was comforting. I dropped my bag in the corner and ran for the mat, doing a quick series of cartwheels and round offs as I went, ending with a back handspring and a tuck. I landed easily on the balls of my feet, crouching low to absorb the impact like I always did when my gymnastics instructor wasn't around. She hated it when I did that. I popped up from my crouch and surveyed the room.

There weren't any other people here. There were a bunch of bars and beams and even rings. And the floor space was awesome. I had enough room to do about fifty round offs. Probably more.

I did a quick round off back handspring back tuck, landing neatly standing up this time, right in front of the beam. I hooked my leg over the beam and sat, straddling it. I stood up carefully. My gymnastics instructor had been able to do a cartwheel on the beam. I'd never mastered it. But maybe this beam was wide enough. . .

Taking a deep breath, I rolled my shoulders a couple times to loosen them and settled into a lunge with my arms over my head. I took a quick step and then I was cartwheeling, swinging smoothly through the air to land perfectly on the beam again.

I grinned triumphantly. I'd finally, finally, finally mastered it.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so I hope you liked it.. I have chapter two already typed up but I'm kinda doubting this story : So please review and tell me if I should keep writing this story. &Sorry about the kinda suckish ending to this chapter. I had to finish this super quick, cause I had to go to bed early for my dance recital the other night :P**

**By the way, most of this is gonna be in Max POV, so I'll just stop writing that, kay?**

**Oh and I did gymnastics for only a couple years, a long time ago, & I don't really remember much about it, so I'm not really up on the finer details of the moves & stuff. I only do dance, not gymnastics. So I promise the next chapters wont be as boring as this one. This one was kinda introductory, to all the sports that Max does. There won't be much more of this in the other chapters, promise! :)**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	2. Introductions

**Second chapter! :P**

**I'm trying out Fang's POV here but I'll normally be sticking to Max's POV... so tell me if you like Fang's better**

**Enjoy :)**

**Oh, and I almost forgot.  
>Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. I only wish. Mr. James Patterson does<strong>

Chapter Two

Fang POV

"Dude, that was _awesome_," Gazzy laughed, bouncing his soccer ball on the gray carpeted floor as we walked. We'd just finished a close game of soccer at the gym's indoor soccer field. It was cool playing at the indoor field. Nothing compared to playing outside, but we didn't have a field big enough to play soccer on anywhere near our houses. So indoor soccer three blocks from our house was the next-best thing.

"That save you made?" Iggy said. "It was the best."

Gazzy grinned and ran a hand through his sweaty blond hair.

It _had_ been pretty awesome, I just wasn't much of a conversationalist. I usually talk in sentence fragments if I even have to talk at all. Most of the time I just stay quiet. I usually don't smile or laugh or show any emotion. It was just how I'd been since. . .well since the day I was born, I guess.

"I think I know her," Iggy muttered, stopping suddenly and looking through the window overlooking the gymnastics floor. Gazzy and I backtracked and glanced over his shoulder.

A girl with brownish-blond hair was doing cartwheels and all these other gymnastics moves across the floor. She finally ended in some kind of backflip and landed in a crouch. She continued with all the complicated-looking moves until she was at the beam. This was getting kinda boring. If I didn't know how to do something, I got bored watching it. But I had to admit this girl was good. She did a quick cartwheel across the beam and stopped, grinning. She hopped off the beam and dropped into a split, sitting there and stretching her arms.

"Can we go now?" I begged, bouncing slightly on my heels.

Iggy just kept watching, a frustrated look on his face. "I need to know why her face looks familiar," he insisted.

Gazzy just shook his head, looking kinda awestruck. "Her face doesn't look familiar to me, but she sure does look really dang pretty."

Suddenly Iggy banged on the glass, causing the girl to look up in alarm. "Max!" he shouted, grinning.

Max. Wasn't that a boy name? That was cool. Kinda edgy.

The girl, Max, looked at Iggy in confusion for a split second before her face relaxed into a smile. She motioned for us to come in.

Iggy pushed open the door next to the window and crossed the floor to Max. He held out his hand, and she grabbed it and pulled herself up easily from her split.

Up close, I could see what Gazzy was talking about. The lights shone on Max's dark blond hair and glinted off her even white teeth. She had big, warm brown eyes framed by thick black lashes. She had a couple golden-brown freckles sprinkled across her face. Her skin wasn't necessarily tan, but it wasn't necessarily pale either. I mean, I'm not like, falling hard for her or anything, but she was pretty.

"Hey, Iggy," Max said, cocking her head and letting her braid slide off her shoulder. "Whatcha doin' here?"

"Fang and Gazzy and I were just playing soccer," Iggy explained, gesturing at the Gasman and I.

Max raised her eyebrows at us. "Interesting names," she said. The way she said it wasn't mean, more curious and amused.

"Right back at ya," I blurted, before remembering I don't talk.

"Touche," Max replied. "Max is short for Maximum. My mom said she knew from the minute I was born that I was gonna be the strong one in the family, so she started calling me the Maximum Child and I guess it stuck and now my name is Maximum." She shrugged.

"My real name's Nick," I explained. "Fang is a nickname. Long story."

Iggy and Gazzy's jaws almost dropped to the floor. This was practically a speech for me.

Max looked kinda confused. "Alright, well, I kinda gotta practice so. . ." She turned and cartwheeled one, two three. . .six times. She didn't hesitate before dropping into a split again and stretching.

"Max, the gym is closing soon and it's gonna start raining," Iggy pointed out.

She looked up at the clock on the wall. "Shoot." She popped up and grabbed her sports bag from the corner. "Let's go," she said, jogging toward the door. Her quick pace had us running to keep up.

It was raining when we got outside. I just flipped up the hood on my hoodie and walked over to Iggy's car, waiting.

He was still talking to Max. She looked kinda upset, and kept glancing out at the rain in annoyance. Finally, Iggy said something that made her face light up. She grabbed her bike and rolled it over to the van.

"We're giving Max a ride," he explained to me as he slid in the drivers seat with Gazzy next to him.

Max loaded her bike into the trunk and slid into the backseat with me, frowning as she let her hair out of its braid and shook it out. I just sat there silently, like the emotionless rock I am. That's me. Emotionless Fang.

Gazzy twisted around to face Max. "I've never seen you around town before," he said suspiciously. "Did you just move here?"

Max nodded. "All the way from Montana." She looked sadly out the window.

"Gaz, remember when we were watching all the diving stuff on TV?" Iggy said. "And we thought the best team was the Sharks and we thought they should've won?"

"Uh, yeah," Gazzy replied, turning to face Iggy.

"Max was on the Sharks before she moved," Iggy announced.

"Really?" Gazzy asked, widening his blue eyes at Max. "Oh yeah, you do look familiar! Oh my God, you're the best diver on that team! I should be kissing the ground you walk on." Max smiled slightly. "No, really, you've been, like, my idol ever since I saw that."

"Thanks," Max sighed modestly as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"So what other sports do you do? Besides swimming and gymnastics?" I asked, sensing an awkward lull in the conversation. That was weird, for me. I never really cared about awkward silences. What was happening to me being the Emotionless Rock? I had to work on that more.

Max gazed thoughtfully at the rain for a second. "Well, I played soccer for three years when I was younger, but I don't play it much anymore. Sometimes I do competition gymnastics. I was on the team in Montana before I had to leave. I'd been on it on-and-off the years before that. I was on the volleyball and softball team in my old school Oh, and I was the track star there, too. And I did some ice skating, but it's not really my thing," she finished.

"Woah," I mumbled. Gazzy was staring at her, open-mouthed.

"How did you manage all that?" he wondered, amazed.

She shrugged. "I'm a good multitasker, I guess. And, lucky for me, practices were all on different days."

"Max, which way is your house?" Iggy interrupted.

"Take a left right here," she instructed. "And then when you get to the end of the road, a right, and then you go all the way down to the end and my house is the second-to-last one on Cherry Street."

Suprised, I said, "I live on Cherry Street too."

She mock punched my arm. "Hey, neighbor," she chuckled.

After a couple more seconds of silence, Iggy pulled up outside a mocha-colored house. "Is this it?" he asked, gazing up at the big house.

"Yeah." Max slid open the door and hopped out, grabbing her bike from the trunk. "See ya!" she called as she dragged her bike up the stone driveway. Iggy waved goodbye and dropped me off at my house. I stared curiously at Max's house for a few seconds before turing and going inside.  
>Well, this should be interesting.<p>

**So what'd you think? I'm trying not to make Fang fall too fast for Max, and vice versa. I want them to be more like friends first. So I'm working on that.**

**Oh by the way, I've never lived in Florida & I've never been to Florida, or Montana, so these teams & street names and stuff are totally made up :P**

**And if I keep going with this story, I'll try my best to update often, maybe everyday cause I get out of school Thursday and I have half days the two days that I do have school**

**So tell me if i should keep going with this!**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	3. Nervous

**Yay chapter three! I'm updating quicker than I thought. I guess I just like writing this story. But this one is shorter than the others :P I'm sorry! I'm working on making them longer**

**And I had my recital on Sunday so now I don't have dance 'til school starts again :( I'm so upset.**

**Anyway here's the next chappie! Btw it's back to Max POV.**

**&I had the song stuck in my head. It has nothing to do with Fax or anything else in the story other than the fact that Max can sing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, I'm just an enthusiastic fan.**

* * *

><p>Chapter Three<p>

I sat in the front porch, running my fingers aimlessly across the strings of my guitar. The night was unusually still and quiet; the only sound breaking the silence was the chirping of hidden crickets.

I became more focused on the guitar, strumming out an actual tune to my favorite Justin Bieber song. (**A/N: Yes I am a Belieber. A very devoted Belieber**. **Btw the song is Stuck In The Moment**)

"With you, with you," I hummed softly, beginning the song.

_I wish we had another time  
><em>_I wish we had another place_

_Now Romeo and Juliet  
><em>_Bet they never felt the way we felt  
><em>_Bonnie and Clyde  
><em>_Never had to hide like we do, we do  
><em>_You and I, both know it can't work  
><em>_It's all fun and games 'til someone gets hurt  
><em>_And I don't, I won't  
><em>_Let that be you  
><em>_Now you don't wanna let go  
><em>_And I don't wanna let you know  
><em>_That there might be something real between us two  
><em>_Who knew  
><em>_Now we don't wanna fall but  
><em>_We're trippin' in our hearts  
><em>_And it's reckless and clumsy  
><em>_'Cause I know you can't love me here_

"Max, you sound amazing, but it's time for dinner," my mom's voice announced. I turned around to see her head poking out of the doorway.

"Fine," I sighed, trotting inside and resting my guitar against the wall.

Dinner was delicious, as it always was. I tried to ignore the one empty seat at the table. Even though I knew our family was better off without my dad, the empty chair made _me_ feel empty.

"Mom, is there a mall around here?" my sister Ella asked eagerly the second we sat down. Ella was younger than me by almost a year, and she was the girliest girl you'd ever meet. It's kinda funny to think about how different we are. I couldn't care less about fashion and clothes and malls, and Ella doesn't care too much for sports. Unless you count cheerleading as a sport. Which, I guess, I do.

My mom is a vet; sometimes I even call her Dr. Martinez by accident instead of Mom. She makes the best chocolate-chip cookies in the world and she's the best mom anyone could possibly ask for. She was currently serving everyone mashed potatoes-one big scoop for each plate. She batted my hand away when I reached for more. "Leave some leftovers for the rest of us," she scolded. I shrugged and grinned sheepishly. I mean, what can I say? Naturally high metabolism is a gift. Or maybe a curse, from my mom's point of view. But for me, I can just eat whatever I want whenever I want and not have to worry about it.

"Anyway," Mom said slowly, sitting down. "Ella, is you mean walking distance from our house, no."

Ella's face fell. At our old house in Montana there had been a mall ten minutes' walking distance away from our house.

"I think that there's one a fifteen minutes drive from here, though," Mom added. Ella's face brightened again and they both started discussing the finer points of the town's shopping center. I just stayed silent and stuffed my face with lots and lots of mashed potatoes and five slices of garlic bread. I was reaching for my sixth when Mom finally noticed.

"Maximum Ride Martinez!" my mom scolded. "Goodness, leave some for us!"

Okay, a bit of history here: since my mom knew I was gonna be the 'Maximum Child', she'd named me partially after Sally Ride, who she'd admired. So pretty soon I'd just gone by Maximum Ride, because that suited me more than Maximum Martinez. My mom was fine with it. Then again, she was pretty much fine with anything I wanted to do. Except hogging the garlic bread.

"Sheesh, Max!" Ella didn't look suprised, just peeved. "Mom never makes garlic bread! And when she does you eat it all." She scowled at me and I grinned at her. She glowered at me for a couple more seconds before she couldn't help my infectious grin and she allowed herself a quick smile back at me.

"Thanks for dinner, Mom. It was really good," I said, hopping up and kissing her and Ella on the cheek. They were both muttering about how much food I ate, but I dismissed that and ran out, grabbing my guitar and jogging outside again.

I tried to focus on just playing my guitar and singing, but I was feeling restless and nervous. It was probably because of my first day tomorrow. I don't really make friends easily. And while usually I'm a pretty quiet person, life is so much easier with friends that have your back no matter what. I was feeling jumpy and nervous right now, like no matter how much I moved, I wouldn't be able to burn off enough energy.

I got up, feeling a sudden urge to _gogogo, runrunrun_. I grabbed my iPod and jogged away from my house, knowing a quick jog around the block was necessary to burn off some energy. I popped my earbuds into my ears and cranked up the volume. I paced my run to the steady beat of _Till The World Ends_ by Britney Spears. I'm not really a Britney fan, but my sister is. (**A/N: I, however, AM a Britney fan.**)

_Spit it out 'cause I'm dyin' for company. . ._

I turned the corner again, already halfway around the block. The run was already relaxing me; the cool night air whooshing past me as I jogged, the effortless rhythm of running steadily, my feet carrying me easily around the block. (**A/N: Just putting this in here, Max has shoes on. I forgot to add it in there but I couldn't find a good place to add it in, so whatevs :P**) Within minutes, I'd already run a full lap around the block and was standing in front of my house again, barely breathing hard.

It's funny to see how a simple lap around the block can make me feel so much better. I smiled and went back inside, grabbing my guitar as I went.

Upstairs, Ella was in my room, looking through my clothes boxes and organizing everything into my dressers and closet.

"What the heck are you doing?" I demanded, gingerly setting my guitar down on my bed and surveying the maze of boxes. Ella had rearranged them so it was easier to get through. She was too neat.

"Sorting your clothes, because I'm dressing you up tomorrow and I'm making my job easier," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I waved my hands at the clothes. "How does _this_ make it easier to dress me up? By the way, you are _not_ dressing me up."

"Max." Ella turned and crossed her arms. I did the same, staring defiantly at her. Her expression was pleading.

"Ells, no."

"Please, Max! I won't make you wear a skirt," she promised.

I considered it for a second. "Maybe," I said hesitantly.

She smiled at me hugely. "Thank you, Max!"

This weakness is brought to you by Ella Martinez's Bambi eyes.

**Hey! I'm really sorry it's been kinda lame so far :P But these first few chapters are mostly leading up to the main plot, so keep reading and I promise it'll get better.**

**Pleeease review! It'll help me get over the tragedy of not being able to dance for the summer... *sniffle***

**Pretty pretty please with a plie on top?(: *bambi eyes***

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	4. First Day

**Am I writing this too fast? :/ oh well. I love writing this and I'm gonna keep going, so whatever :)**

**Oh and a big thanks to my faithful reviewers: LovelyMidnightSpark, maxride96, Fowlmaniac, & xXReading Is My PassionXx. You guys are the best! :) Oh and I'm getting emails about a lot of people adding this story to their Story Alerts list so thank you for that! &Please review while you're at it :)**

***Sigh* I keep forgetting to do the disclaimer.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. I'm a sad little panda. Virtual hug to the first person that gets this reference :P**

**Without further ado, let us begin chapter four :)**

Chapter Four

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Wake. Up. Wake. Up._

With a tired sigh, I swung my arm up and hit the off button on my alarm clock. I heard a _crack_ and the numbers started blinking erratically.

_Oops_. I might've broken it with the force of my hand. Oh well. At least now I had a valid reason for waking up late. I groaned and rolled out of bed, dreading today and my dress-up session with Ella. Maybe she'd forget. Not likely, but maybe.

I crept downstairs cautiously, making sure Ella wasn't about to leap out at me with lipstick or something ridiculous like that. I snagged three granola bars and darted upstairs again. I slammed the door behind me, grateful that I'd escaped Ella for the moment.

...Or so I'd thought. Ella was already there in my room. The clothes she'd unpacked yesterday were already a jumbled mess on my floor. She looked over her shoulder at me and scowled.

"Do you have anything remotely girly enough for the first day of school?" she demanded. She was already dressed in a white off-the-shoulder shirt with a purple mini skirt.

I shrugged. "Not girly by your definition."

She apraised me quickly. "Hmm. You're about the same height as me. So my clothes will fit you!" She grinned triumphantly and I groaned. "Wait here!" she commanded as she practically flew down the hall.

Where did she think I was gonna go, China? Then again, that didn't seem like such a bad idea to escape this.

Ella returned, cheeks flushed as she triumphantly thrust several articles of clothing at me. The first one was a loose, flowy white tank top with see-though swirly patterns all over it. The second was a turquoise camisole to wear underneath, and the last was a pair of dark blue skinny jeans.

Ella was beaming at me. "Do you like it? The turquoise thing goes underneath the white so the color will show through the see-through parts. See?" She took the tank and cami back and arranged them to show me how the color showed through the see-though patterns. "I chose this because it's something that you could move around in. Like, you can run in it and not ruin my shirt. And you can wear those Converse that Mom just got you last month! They match this color." She ran her thumb over the silky fabric of the cami before showing them both into my hands. "Get dressed," she ordered, leaving the room.

Ugh. I glared at the pile of silky, girly fabric in my arms. I sighed and grudgingly slid on both tank tops. Ella was right; the turquoise showed through. Still grumbling to myself, I put on the jeans and glared at my reflection in the mirror. Max the Fierce Warrior Girl was gone, replaced by Max the Uber-Girly-Girl. I can't say I was thrilled about the transformation. I yanked a brush through my tangled locks just as Ella knocked on my door.

"Are you decent? Can I come in?" Ella asked through the door.

"Yeah," I replied uncertainly. Ella burst into the room and apraised my outfit.

"Max, you look amazing!" Ella squealed. "That shirt looks better on you than it does on me. I might let you keep it so you'll have something cute to wear for once."

I sighed. "Ella, this is only for today. Tomorrow, I go back to wearing my own clothes." I lifted my chin and tried to force myself to sound fierce.

"We'll see," Ella giggled loftily. "I'm gonna go get my makeup bag." She left the room before I could say anything.

I turned back to my reflection. "Sisters," I muttered.

Ella was back in seconds with a huge shoulder bag. It was bulging and overflowing with cases and cases and cases of makeup. I got dizzy just looking at it. This bag was my all-time ultimate enemy, and one that I had to fend off way too often. Ella dragged my desk chair over to my mirror and guided me into it.

"Just try to relax," Ella said, poking my rigid shoulders. I refused, still sitting stick-straight with my eyes squeezed shut. Ella let out an irritated sigh and went to work on my face, mumbling to herself. I tried not to squirm as she tickled my cheek with a soft brush. Blush brushes (**Try saying that five times fast.**) always tickled my face and Ella knew it. I finally just couldn't stand it anymore. I lept up from the chair and rubbed off whatever was on my face.

"Max!" Ella whined.

"I'm ticklish," I said miserably.

She sighed in irritation. "Well then I'll only do some eye shadow and you'll be done," she coaxed.

I whipped my head from side to side in superfast denial. "No. This is where I draw the line. No makeup."

"Please!" Ella begged.

"No." I planted my feet and crossed my arms over my chest.

Ella pouted. "At least let me do your hair. Please!" she said as she saw me open my mouth to reject her idea. "I'll give you final decision. If you don't like it you don't have to keep it."

I pondered her offer. It was better than hearing her whining all morning and pouting in silence later. "Whatever," I sighed, caving and sitting back down on the chair again.

Ella clapped. "Yay! Thank you Max!" She dug through the bag and pulled out a smaller case with hair ties and stuff. "Hmm," she said, circling me and critically eying my slightly wavy dark blond hair. I stiffened.

"Stop. That makes me feel like you're about to sketch me for your next sculpture or something," I snapped.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Max. Okay I think. . ." She hesitated, chewing her lip as she thought. I was starting to get twitchy and restless. "I think we should just keep it familiar and comfortable. You know, style your hair in a way you'd style it on a regular day?" She looked at me as if she was waiting for an answer.  
>"Uh. . .sure," I muttered.<p>

She looked satisfied. "Okay, so I could either straighten it for you, or do a fishtail braid." (**A/N: It just started raining :D Rain is good for my writing! It makes me feel calm. So I'm gonna be able to finish this and post it faster than you can say blush brushes.)**

"Whatever you feel like," I sighed.

Ella looked thoughtful for a second. "I'll just straighten it," she decided, plugging her bright green straightener into the wall.

It took Ella a full ten minutes to straighten my hair, and by then we were running late. I slid on my Converse, grabbed my backpack, and ran downstairs and out the door.

"Ella, _let's GO_!" I yelled, already jogging down the porch steps.

"I'm coming!" Ella breathed, tripping down the steps in her non-practical white high heeled sandals. I shook my head at her and yanked her hand to get her to start walking. The whole time I felt someone's eyes on me. When I finally looked around, I saw Fang standing on his porch, watching us. His black hair flopped over his forehead, stopping just above his onyx-colored eyes. He was in a black t-shirt, black jeans, and-you guessed it-pink Converse. No, just kidding, he was wearing black Converse. But that would be pretty funny. I never saw guys wearing pink.

I forced my eyes away from my mysterious neighbor and kept walking.

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

I made it to homeroom just in time. The clock told me there were thirty seconds before the bell rang.

I dropped into my seat next to quiet Lauren Bergh and stared straight ahead, bored by the usual homeroom routines. It wasn't awkward that Lauren and I weren't talking; we were both naturally quiet. (**A/N: Max isn't in Fang's homeroom. I decided that would be too cliche. And they're not locker neighbors or anything, they have a couple classes together though.**)

The bell ending homeroom and starting first period rang loudly throughout the school, causing everyone to jump out of their seats and race to the door. I kinda just shuffled behind the crowd and managed to get to my next class without my girlfriend, Lissa tracking me down. Lissa had been flirting with me since last year until finally I guess she grew on me and I kissed her. We'd started kinda sorta dating, but she was all over me _all the time_. I mean sure, Lissa was really pretty and all, but a guy needs his space, y'know? So I tried to spend as little time as possible in the hallways. Lissa had a knack for finding me, especially when I didn't want her to. So I was relieved to make it to my next class without Lissa finding me.

I slid into my chair and tried to stifle a yawn as I saw what Mrs. Jenner had written on the board for today: we were taking notes on the American Revolution. _Again_. I sighed and tapped my foot impatiently. I really hated history. Why learn about the past? It's already happened. It's not like we can change anything in the past. It was so stupid. (**A/N: Sorry to all you people that love history.**)

"Class," Mrs. Jenner barked. Everyone instantly quieted; they were all terrified of Mrs. Jenner and her short temper. "Meet our new student, Max." Looking totally relaxed despite the teacher she was standing next to, Max stepped forward and smiled. Everyone started whispering about her all at once.

"Dude, she's hot."

"I'm not stupid. I can see her."

"Aw, she looks nice. I love her tank top!"

"Class, be quiet," Mrs. Jenner snapped. Silence blanketed the room. "Max, please tell the class a little about yourself."

Max nodded. "Okay, well, my name is Maximum Ride and I just moved here from Montana. I miss Montana a lot. I do swimming, gymnastics, softball, and volleyball, but my favorite is gymnastics." Kids started murmuring to each other again.

"Qui-et!" Mrs. Jenner rapped her ruler on the blackboard and gave Max a short nod. "Please take a seat over there," she said sternly, pointing to the desk in front of me. Max sat down in front of me with a barely audible sigh. She flicked her now-straight hair over her shoulder and started taking notes as Mrs. Jenner started talking.

This was going to be a looooong class.

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><p>Back to Max POV!<p>

This class was just dragging _on and on and on_. My hand was getting sore from copying down notes, and I was so bored my eyes were about to fall out of my head. I already had my head in my hands, trying to stop the headache I could feel coming on.

"Max," Mrs. Jenner snapped. "Pay attention."

"Uh, sorry Mrs. Jenner," I replied timidly.

Mrs. Jenner sniffed indignantly and continued rambling on about the Battle of Bunker Hill. _Boooooring_.

"Shut up already," I heard a voice behind me mutter.

I turned around and looked at Fang. "Seriously," I agreed.

"MAX!" I jumped at the sound of my name.

"_What?_" I snapped, my automatic reaction to someone calling my name too loud. Oops. Big mistake. Mrs. Jenner's face looked like storm cloud. Cloudy with a 100% percent chance of detention.

"Would you like to teach the class?" she hissed. "Am I _boring_ you?"

_Yes, you are_, I almost said. "Uh, no," I lied.

She glared at me. "Pay. Attention," she ordered, and returned to her lecture. I rolled my eyes and settled back into my seat for another twenty minutes of makes-me-wanna-rip-me-hair-out lecturing.

I had never been so happy to hear the bell when it finally rang. I snapped my binders shut and raced out of the classroom.

"So, you survived your first day with Mrs. Jenner," Fang said as he caught up to me. "Congratulations."

"Thanks, I think," I muttered, glancing at my schedule. "Can you take me to the art room?"

"Sure, that's my next class too," Fang replied. "Miss Kenkel is the teacher for art. You'll like her. She's really sweet to all her students."

"I think it's an art teacher thing," I said with a distant smile. "My art teacher in my old school was the sweetest lady ever."

Fang just nodded mutely and pushed open the door to the art room. The room was bright and cheerful. Flowers crowded colorful clay pots on the windowsill. The countertops were covered in paintings and random drops of paint. The stools had all been painted a different color. The exposed brick walls were covered in paintings too. This room actually had a skylight, and bright sunlight was streaming through in a patch of golden light on the floor. (**A/N: Whoohoo for skylights! I had to add them in somewhere. My school has skylights and it's awesome. Except for when it snows.**)

"Oh, who's this, Fang?" a petite blond woman with a blue checkered handkercheif tied around her hair asked. She walked with a bounce in her step, and she was dressed in a colorful sundress that just added to the room's cheeriness.

"New girl," Fang replied, taking a seat on a black stool.

"Well then, welcome!" she said with a smile. "I'm Miss Kenkel, the only art teacher in this school. What's your favorite color?"

"Uh," I muttered. I was completely taken aback by this bubbly teacher. It was a nice chance from having such boring teachers all the time. "Um, my favorite color is red."

She gave me a sunny smile. "Well then by all means, have a seat!" She patted the red stool next to Fang's black one. (**A/N: this is the only class they sit next to each other in. I didn't want it to be too cliche.**) "We're just going to be sketching and relaxing today. The class just finished a project and we'll be started a next unit soon," Miss Kenkel explained, handing me a sketchbook.

"Thanks," I mumbled, sitting down.

"Alright, class, listen up please!" Miss Kenkel requested, raising her voice only slightly. Everyone fell silent, but not because they were scared of her; it was because they respected her. "This period is going to be a free sketch period. If you sketch one of the pots of flowers on the windowsill, you can turn it in for extra credit. But if you want the extra credit, it's due at the end of this class." She clapped twice. "Start sketching!" she cheered.

I smiled and opened to the first page in my sketch book. I chewed at my pencil thoughtfully for a second before I finally got inspiration for what to draw. I grinned as I looked back down at my paper and sketched the outline of a huge square room. I focused on the finer details of the room; the lighting, the wall hangings, every line that ran through the floor. When everything in the room looked perfect, I erased a space in the middle of my page and started drawing a person there. I was totally absorbed in my picture, and the time flew by. Before I knew it, Miss Kenkel was warning everyone that there were five minutes left in class and we should probably start cleaning up.

I obediently scooped up the colored pencils I'd been using and returned them to the box. When I returned to my seat, Fang was gazing intently at my drawing. I tried to tug it away from him but her held onto it firmly.

"You're a really good drawer," he murmured as he looked down at my drawing. I looked over his shoulder at the picture I'd drawn of my old gymnastics instructor. I'd drawn the YMCA where my team used to practice and have classes. I'd drawn my teacher, Kelly Risle, in the middle of a back handspring, her fingertips just barely touching the mat, her toes pointed gracefully, her body curved into a perfect C. I had added all the details of the old room in behind her.

"Um, thanks," I said quietly.

He smiled sarcastically and slid the paper across the desk to me. I snatched it up and stuffed it into my folder. The bell rang at that exact second.

"See ya later, Ride," he muttered, mock punching my shoulder as he left.

"Later," I said distractedly, gathering up my books and heading off in the opposite direction for my next class, thinking about Montana the whole time.

* * *

><p><strong>This was a longer chapter. Hope you guys liked it :)<strong>

**Hmm and I was wondering, should I have Nudge as Fang's adoptive sister, and have Gazzy, Iggy, & Angel all related? I'm kinda leaning towards doing that but let me know if you think it would work out better another way.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I might have another shorter chapter up by the end of the night if I get a couple more reviews. :)**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	5. Flashback

**Thanks again to all the awesome people who reviewed last chapter :)**

**Fowlmaniac-Thank you! And woah. Someone deserves a Nobel Prize. :)**

**LovelyMidnightSpark-Thankshyaaa(: And yay someone got it! Hehe :D**

**xXReading Is My PassionXx-Thanks, I will keep that in mind :)**

**And thank you to everyone else who's been reading this :)**

**I think I'm writing too much of this. I'm gonna start losing sleep cause of this. But who cares. My last day of school is tomorrow, yay! :)**

**Oh grr. Disclaimer: I only dream of owning Maximum Ride. I own only the plot. *sniffle***

**And nobody's gotten the sad little panda reference so far. I'm shocked. Doesn't anyone here watch Glee?**

**Oh whatever, enjoy! :)**

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><p><em>"Max, you won't get hurt, just try it," Kelly, my instructor, insisted.<em>

_I chewed my lip nervously. "How can you be so sure?"_

_Kelly just smiled. "Trust me, Max. I know."_

_Well, if I trusted anyone in this world, it was Kelly._

_Taking a deep breath, I positioned myself in front of Olivia, who'd be lifting me. I never trusted anyone except Kelly to lift me. But Kelly couldn't just come out and lift me in the middle of the competion, so Olivia would have to do it._

_"On my count," Kelly said, standing up on the beam so she could see us better. "Five six seven and lift!"_

_Olivia quickly lifted me up by the waist while I pushed off the mat with my feet. Olivia was a lot bigger and stronger than me, so it was simple to lift me so that I was slightly over her head. She kept her arms bent so that she could support my weight easier. I stretched my legs into a split, parallel to the floor because I was upside down. It took everything in me to hold my position while Olivia executed the two quick turns. When she stopped, she shifted me so that my waist was resting on her thick, muscular shoulder and she held me under my arms. I swung my feet down and was almost on the ground when something went wrong._

_Olivia's hands were slick with sweat, and one of her hands slipped. My whole body slid toward the ground awkwardly, one hip slipping off her shoulder. She tried to catch me, completely releasing me from under my arms. But she wasn't quick enough, and I crashed to the ground, landing on my ankle at an awkward angle. A shock of pain spiked through my foot and before I could help myself, a tear slipped down my cheek. I sat on the ground, cradling my foot to my chest._

_Kelly knelt down next to me. "Max, I'm sorry," she whispered._

"Miss Ride?" An amused voice intruded on my daydream. Or rather day flashback.

"Yeah?" I asked tiredly, struggling to cover my yawn.

My algebra teacher, Mr. Lowell, was standing in front of my desk, holding my favorite pen in his hand. He dropped it on my desk. "You dropped it when you dozed off," he explained as I grabbed it.

"Oh. Thanks," I said gratefully, clicking it a half dozen times.

Mr. Lowell just shook his head and smiled. "Try to stay awake next time," he advised, turning around and heading towards the board again. I just shrugged and returned to my worksheet. Mr. Lowell was a pretty cool teacher. From what I'd heard, he had a history of never yelling or raising his voice at anyone.

I tried to focus on my worksheet but my dream was circling around in my head. No, scratch that. Flashback. That was more like it. That day had haunted me because one time, long ago, my dad had told me to never trust anyone. I'd been going by that until Kelly convinced me to try it. She had been one of the only people I trusted. When I'd decided to venture out and trust Olivia, I'd fractured my foot. I'd always thought that I was paying the price for not following my dad's rule. But then he almost hurt my mom and he left and I decided I didn't have to listen to him anymore. No matter how much I told myself this in my head, that day was still a dark memory and I couldn't control that.

**I'M SORRY THIS IS SO SHORT :/ I just wanted to get another chapter up tonight but my mom is screaming at me to get off the computer but we all know I'm a rule breaker and I'll be back on when she's asleep.**

**By the way the lift in the flashback was something I actually remembered from gymnastics when I was younger. Yay for my good memory.**

**ANNNDDDD next chapter is gonna have a Lissa/Max showdown. :D (Yes I'm keeping you on your toes)**

**Oh and I'm gonna try not to put as many A/N's in. Cause I keep rambling on like Nudge. Oh boy here I go again. I'd better just play it safe and go now. Okay bye.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	6. Friends & Enemies

**Okay so I'm crying right now. School just ended and I'm not gonna see some people again in September. So I'm crying. And trying to cheer myself up by writing this. So if it's kinda doom and gloom sorry. I'm depressed.**

**maxride96-Glee is amazing! (: I was so sad when the season ended D:**

**yahidontlikeueither-thanks! I just thought that there are too many fanfics out there that tell different versions of the same story, so I changed it up a bit :)**

**And thanks to other reviewers, especially Fowlmaniac & LovelyMidnightSpark, who have been reviewing almost every chapter :)**

**Disclaimer: I own only the plot, not Maximum Ride.**

**Ugh I'm gonna try to stop crying and start writing.**

The bell rang out loudly throughout the school, saving me from falling asleep again in math. I rushed to collect everything and bolted out of the classroom. I had gym now, and then I'd have lunch, _thank goodness_. I was starving. I knew I should've had more that three little granola bars for breakfast.

I raced to my locker and struggled to open it. Unlike some of the other things this school had presented me with so far, opening my locker was a challenge. I had to twist the dial to the _exact_ number in the _exact_ order. Ugh. In my old school, if you got the numbers relatively close to the combination, it would open. Not here. It took me three tries before I was finally able to yank it open and shove everything in.

I tensed up as I heard the sound of squealy giggles and heels clicking on the cheap linoleum floors. I'd learned to avoid that sound in Montana, because it usually meant there was a snotty slut around.

My suspicions were confirmed when a girl with long red hair stopped in front of my locker. She was wearing super-short jean shorts and a bright pink V-neck that went _very_ low. I tried to stop myself from snorting. Just your stereotypical mean girl, at your sevice. She jutted out one hip and planted her hand on it, flicking her hair over her shoulder with the other hand. The two minions behind her did the same thing, and I had to force myself to keep a straight face.

"So, _you're_ the new girl," she said in a false-interested tone.

"Yeaaahhh," I said slowly.

"The new girl that's been following my boyfriend around like a freaking puppy dog?" She scowled at me.

I racked my brain, wondering who she was talking about. "Uh, who again?" I asked. I was glad that my voice sounded flat and uncaring. Points for me.

"FANG," she snapped, getting in my face. Strike One. I shoved her shoulder back. I didn't like it when people thought it was okay to get in my face to make a point. I mean, what good does it do? It just irritates people. She looked absolutely shocked as she stumbled backwards in her stupid five-inch heels. I was disappointed to see that she didn't trip and have her face exfoliated by the floor.

"First of all, I'm not following Fang around," I said calmly. "He was showing me to my next class, which he happened to be in."

She snorted. Strike Two. "You think I believe that? Please. I wasn't born yesterday," she scoffed. She made the mistake of getting in my face again. Strike Three, and yer out.

I shoved her back again, and this time her thin heel snapped and she fell into the water fountain. Her flailing arms accidentally pressed the button, and the back of her shorts were soon soaked. A crowd was accumulating around the fountain, some people trying to help her up, others whispering to each other and laughing. I slipped away from the scene, not trying to contain my laughter at all.

Final score: Max, 1, Red-Haired Slut, 0.

* * *

><p>Gym was fun. Lucky for me, we were starting a volleyball unit. Mr. Henrick, the gym teacher, separated our class into two teams, and the game began.<p>

The red-haired slut was on the other team. Her hair was a wet, tangled mess and she kept shooting me death glares.

"What'd you do to Lissa to make her hate you so much?" someone next to me asked. I turned to see a girl with long brown ringlets and mocha-colored skin.

"Um, she got in my face and I didn't like that so I kinda pushed her," I confessed. "She fell into the water fountain and she was soaked 'cause her hand hit the button."

To my suprise, the girl started cracking up. "Nice!" she chuckled, slapping me a high five. "I've been wanting to put her in her place forever. By the way, I'm Nudge. Nudge is just a nickname. No one really knows why, someone just started calling me Nudge one day and it stuck. My real name is Monique Thorne. But I like Nudge better. Monique is a pretty name and all but I just like having a nickname." I was getting dizzy. This girl talked so much.

I gave her a tiny smile. "Hi, Nudge. I'm Max. My full name is Maximum Ride, but just call me Max."

Nudge grinned at me. "Max. I like that name! It's cool having a friend named Max." Compared to her other speech, this was relatively short. "Uh-oh, watch out!" Nudge squealed. I looked up to see the ball coming over the net, straight towards me. Oh. Perfect. I jumped up and slammed the ball down with my palm with as much force as I was capable of. I heard the satisfying smack-thud that meant the ball had slammed into the polished gym wood floors.

I looked around to see that everyone was gaping at me. I wasn't the kind that embarassed at the slightest thing, but all those stares were making me squirmy. I felt heat rush to my cheeks and I looked down, hoping to find something to distract myself.

Luckily, Mr. Henrick grabbed the ball and handed it to our server. "Keep going. Nice job, Max," he called.

"Thanks," I mumbled. Nudge was gaping at me. I winced. "What?" I snapped protectively.

"You're amazing at volleyball, Max," Nudge said matter-of-factly. "You should try out for the team. It would be fun! We could do it together. I like to play volleyball and I was planning on trying out so now we can try out together. None of my other friends play volleyball and it's nice to finally have someone to try out with."

I smiled at her. "I'm glad."

One thing was for certain, making friends was easier than I thought. And making enemies was even more fun.

* * *

><p>After gym was lunch. Nudge hooked her elbow around mine as she led me to the cafeteria.<p>

"You should sit with me and my friends at lunch. That would be so fun," she gushed. "I sit with my friends Tess, J.J., Carolyn, my brother Fang, and his friends Iggy and Gazzy. Tess is Iggy's sister. J.J.'s real name is Jennifer Joy. You can call her Jennifer, Joy, or J.J., so doesn't care, just not Jennifer Joy. Jen works too. Fang's real name is Nick. Iggy's is Jeff and Gazzy's is Zephyr. Woah. I guess we have a lot of nicknames, huh?" She grinned at me.

I nodded. "I know your brother," I told her. "And Iggy and Gazzy." I paused. "Speaking of, why do you call him Gazzy."

Nudge looked at me pityingly. "Just don't stand behind him when the cafeteria ladies are serving brocoli and bean burritos."

I wrinkled my nose. "Brocoli and beans? That's disgusting."

"I know, right?" Nudge sighed. "And by the way, Lissa is Fang's girlfriend." Nudge didn't look to happy about this, but shockingly didn't say more.

I tensed. "I know. Lissa told me. That's why she was in my face in the first place. She thought I was following Fang around when really, he was just showing me to my next class."

Nudge shook her head. "That is so typical! Ugh. Stupid Lissa. Just ignore her. The rest of us do. Well, maybe not Fang. But he gets pretty pissed off when she's always tracking him down in the hallways." She pushed open the cafeteria doors and a rush of noise greeted my ears. I felt an urge to cover my ears but resisted. "Let's buy lunch," Nudge suggested. "Today they're serving brunch. . .ew. It's gross. Seriously, just don't try it. How 'bout we get some pizza instead?"

"Sure," I replied. We bought our lunch quickly, because for some reason the pizza line was much shorter. Whatever.

"Our table is over here," Nudge said as she led me over to a circular table. Fang, Gazzy, Iggy, and three other girls who I guessed were Tess, J.J., and Carolyn, were already there. Iggy and Gazzy were poking at their lunches and talking excitedly to each other. Fang was just sitting quietly munching on an apple. The other three girls were chatting quietly.

"Hey guys! Sit," she ordered me, patting the chair next to hers. I was in between her and Gazzy now. "Guys, this is Max. Max was on my volleyball team in gym and she's amazing! We're gonna try out together for the team." She beamed at me and I couldn't help smiling back. "Max, you already know Gazzy, Iggy, and Fang. This is J.J.-" She pointed to the shortest girl, who had honey-colored hair and kind hazel eyes. The girl smiled at me. "That's Tess," Nudge continued, indicating a girl with thick strawberry blond hair and blue eyes like Iggy's. They looked exactly alike. Tess smiled too. "And that's Carolyn," she finished, pointing to the last girl, who had short, silky black hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hey, Max!" Carolyn said. "I'm suprised Nudge hasn't scared you away with her motormouth yet. She can talk for ages." Everyone looked at Nudge, who huffed indignantly.

"I do not! When have I ever scared someone away by talking too much? Okay I admit that my teachers don't call on me that much anymore because when they do I talk a little too much but that doesn't count! I - " Tess elbowed her sharply in the ribs to get her to shut up.

"Nudge, one day you will finish off the world's air supply," Fang said. He didn't smile or anything, but I got the idea that was the norm for him.

"Woah, Fang spoke in complete sentences," Carolyn muttered.

Suddenly there was a weird noise from right next to me. I looked around curiously. Gazzy was grinning uncontrolably and everyone else at the table had their hands covering their noses and mouths.

"Eew, Gazzy!" I complained as I pulled my shirt over my nose. "Nasty," I muttered, my voice muffled by the fabric of my tank top.

"I think we should tie an air freshener to Gazzy's belt loop," Nudge commented. Her voice sounded nasal because she was holding her nose and trying to eat with her other hand at the same time.

"Tell me about it," J.J. said, sounding disgusted. "Gr-oss."

Gazzy just shrugged and smiled impishly. "Sorry." He didn't sound sorry.

I laughed with everyone else, relieved that I already had such good friends.

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><p><strong>I think I'm gonna take a break from this for a while<strong>

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Lol no just kidding. I love writing this.**

**Please tell me if Fang or Max or anyone else seems kinda OOC. I wanna know so I can fix it.**

**Oh and yes I switched up the families thing and added Tess in as Iggy's sister at the last second. I decided that they should have siblings outside Ella, Iggy, Nudge, Angel, etc. Sorry if it's kinda random :P**

**Reviews get the next chapter up faster :D**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	7. No More Dress Up

**Omigawsh it's chapter seven. :O Am I rushing this? Crap. I'm rushing it. Nooooooooooooooooooooooo x2938492734. Ugh I'll try to slow down my updates.**

**volleychik12-Thanks for letting me know, I knew there was something missing from Max's character. :)**

**Whatever Way The Wind Blows-yeah. I'm not 100% sure why, but I'm working on getting that fixed. I keep clicking in progress but it always shows up as complete. . hopefully it'll work when I post this chapter..?**

**FaNgSgIrL99-There will definitely be more Lissa/Max conflict. You can count on that :D And Angel is coming in soon (:**

**LovelyMidnightSpark-There's always a bright side :D and ugh. I partially wrote that because I was pissed off about all the mean girls/sluts in my school when I was writing that. :P**

**And thanks to everyone else who reviewed :D**

**Forgetting anything? Naw. Oh wait. -.-**

**Disclaimer: I wish I could say I own Maximum Ride, but I do not. :( That honor goes to James Patterson. But I'm kinda mad at him right now. I've been mad at him since Febuary because of the way he ended Angel. I mean, he knew what we wanted and he didn't give it to us. :'(**

**Anyway, I'm gonna stop rambling and start the chapter.**

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><p>"I am officially making myself your wardrobe consultant for the rest of your life," Ella declared with a happy little twirl as we ambled down our street.<p>

I looked at her sharply. "No, you're not," I hissed.

"Oh, quit complaining, Max. We're gonna do this my way. Besides, did you see how many guys were staring at you?" Ella folded her arms across her chest.

"Uh, no? When has anyone ever stared at me?" I loved Ella and all, but sometimes she drove me crazy with this clothes-hair-makeup-boys obsession. Sometimes I dreamed of being back in kindergarten, when you could be friends with a guy without being accused of liking him.

"Well, that Fang kid, for starters," Ella said. "He invited you to sit with him at lunch, right?" She slanted a glance at Fang, who was walking on the opposite side of the street with Nudge.

"Ella, you are so far off base it's not even funny," I said flatly. "Nudge invited me to sit at her table for lunch."

Ella just shook her head. "Well I still think Fang likes you," she said stubbornly.

"And maybe the moon is made of cheese," I muttered. Not wanting to listen to Ella pointlessly try to convince me of things that weren't true, I walked ahead of her for the rest of the walk home. I ignored her calling my name and dashed upstairs before she could catch me. I shoved my desk chair under the door knob so she couldn't get in. Yes, I am that scared of my sister when she starts talking fashion and boys.

I started working on my homework, but I was pretty easily distracted. I ended up just staring out the window daydreaming about being in a professional gymnastics competition. It was pretty peaceful until out of the blue, my phone started ringing. The sound was so unexpected that I almost peed my pants. Wow. I used to be tough as nails, and now I'm jumping when my phone scares me. I, Maximum Ride, have reached an all-time low. I snatched up my phone and hit the _TALK_ button.

"Hello?" I answered as I got up and started pacing the room. I couldn't talk on the phone without being in motion. It was just a habit. (**A/N: A habit that I unfortunately have. I once went around my house about fifteen times for a five minute phone call.**)

"Max!" my mom said on the other line. "How was your first day of school?"

"Good." I smiled. "I made a couple friends and sat with them at lunch."

"That's great!" Mom's voice sounded overly perky, even to me. "So, um, Max," she said slowly. Uh oh. That's the voice she uses when she wants something. "Could you. . .I don't know. . .even consider dressing up for tonight?"

I scowled. Great. Just what I needed. Another person playing Barbie with me. "What's tonight?"

"The family across the street invited us over for dinner," she confessed. "Please, just wear something remotely fancy. I'd love it if you could maybe wear a nice skirt for once. . ."

"_No_," I interrupted. "Mom, you know me better! I am _not_ wearing a skirt!"

I heard her lean away from the phone and sigh in irritation. "Whatever, Max," she said wearily. "I'll be home in fifteen minutes and we'll be heading over to the Thornes' house. Be ready." The line went dead.

Wait. We were going over to Nudge's house? Cool!

. . .Or maybe not so cool, considering that Ella would be pestering me about Fang the whole night. And that was just plain embarassing. I didn't like Fang, Fang didn't like me. It was just that simple. I didn't understand why Ella had to turn everything into some huge production.

I took a deep breath and changed into my lucky tank top and shorts and headed outside to burn off some energy. I felt like I could run all the way to Kansas. Hmm. . .maybe I should actually consider that so I wouldn't have to wear a skirt tonight.

The sun was just starting to drift towards the horizon. Golden beams of light still shone through the gaps in between the leaves on the trees. I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the beach that was carried in on the warm breeze. It really was a perfect afternoon, and I shouldn't let this little Dress Up Dinner fiasco ruin the fifteen minutes I had to stretch and run and do whatever the heck I wanted.

And of course, this is _my_ life, so I can't even walk down the porch steps without something happening.

I was just about to walk down the stairs when my foot slid through a puddle on the porch from when my mom was watering her plants earlier. I tried to regain my balance by wildly waving my arms around for something to grab onto. Unfortunately, I couldn't find something in time and ended up slipping down the stairs. My head smacked against the flower pot at the bottom of the stairs and I blacked out.

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><p><strong>Dun dun duuuuuuuuunnnnn.<strong>

**Lol sorry that this chapter is kinda short, and the ending is really suckish but I wanted to get this up before the clock strikes midnight. Idk i'm weird like that.**

**Oh and I'm working on an idea for another fanfic if this doesn't work out so I'll let you guys know if I actually end up writing & posting it. :)**

**Reviews are nice! :D**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	8. Not Really Your Average Afternoon Stroll

**Picture a really nice Saturday morning, and I could be out there riding my bike or something, but instead I'm in here writing this for you. Be grateful.**

**LovelyMidnightSpark-EXACTLY. I just started ranting about it to my mom, who had no idea what I was talking about. I was starting to sound like Nudge. And haha yeah, I once had to sit in the ER for five hours for seven stitches because. . .  
>My cousin thought it would be funny to toss a water bottle all the way up in the air and see if I could catch it. ..And I couldn't catch it and the cap hit me on the head two inches from my eye. That was probably the all-time fail of my life.<strong>

**Fowlmaniac-I would've stayed up all night, but my mom has a habit of waking up in the middle of the night and checking on me. So what did she see last night at two in the morning? Me just sitting there at the computer. Let's just say she wasn't happy**

**Sierra156-BUT I LOVE BACON! Do I get bacon if I update faster? :D**

**And thank you to all the people who have been reviewing. You guys are ah-mazing. (for anyone who reads the clique series.)**

**Time to stop rambling.**

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><p>Fang POV<p>

". . ._And_ my heel broke when she shoved me!" Lissa's voice was kinda just becoming a buzz in the background. Kinda like when you're reading a book in front of the TV during commercials and you hear the Pillow Pets song and you find it really distracting and can't focus anymore? Exactly. (**A/N: THIS HAPPENS TO ME ALL THE TIME.**)

"Hmm," I commented, not really caring.

Lissa stopped walking and stomped her foot. "Seriously, Fang, are you even listening to me?"

I couldn't lie and say I was, because she'd ask me what she had been talking about and I wouldn't know. "Sorry," I muttered, taking her hand to get her to shut up. (**A/N: Fang and Lissa are taking a walk. They're walking on Fang and Max's street right now.**)

She looked kinda mollified. "Soo, are you gonna take me out to dinner again any time soon?" she asked. Oh ugh. That squeaky, flirty tone was in her voice again.

"That was kinda a one-time thing," I confessed. I'd taken Lissa out to dinner a week and a half ago because my distant rich aunt had sent me a big fat early-birthday check in the mail. My mom had convinced me to take Lissa out to dinner to "show her that I care." Her words, not mine.

"Whyyyyy?" she whined.

"I don't have the money."

She stiffened. "You had the money a week and half ago."

"That was a birthday present from my aunt," I muttered.

"I get the vibe that you're getting ticked off at me," she huffed. "Is it because we haven't been spending much time together lately? I'm sorry. Things have been. . .busy." She stopped walking and spun me around to face her. I stared at her impassively.

Lissa is really bad at reading facial expressions. She apparently takes 'pissed off silent stare-down' as 'kiss me.' So she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me exuberantly. Just another reason I was kinda distancing myself from her recently. She was too pushy. However, I was not the rude type, and I was a gentleman in situations like this. I gently pushed her away. She was scowling at me.

"What's with you, Fang?" she demanded belligerently. "It's like you've been brainwashed or something. Do you wanna break up?"

"No," I sighed. No matter how much I wanted to say yes, it was better if there was less drama. So I'd wait until she broke up with me, excrutiating as that was.

"Well then what's wrong?" Another thing I wasn't crazy about. She pushed you until she got a satisfactory answer.

"I guess. . ." I rubbed my free hand through my hair, utterly exausted of dealing with her. "I'm just. . .tired. And kinda out-of-it."

"I can tell," Lissa said, fake sympathy in her voice.

I looked away from her, annoyed by the fakeness of her tone. We were in front of Dr. Martinez's house now. Upon closer examination, someone was curled up at the bottom of the steps. What the. . .oh crap. There was blood all around the person's head.

"Oh my God," I muttered, yanking Lissa with me as I ran up the path. She had almost everyone's number in her phone and that could end up being useful. I crouched next to the person and saw that it was Max. There was a scary amount of blood pooling around her head, staining the wooden stairs and pavement a horrible dark red. It had already soaked half of her hair and most of her tank top. I gently rolled Max over to try and see where all the blood was coming from. I couldn't really find a source, but I would guess she'd hit her head or something. She still had a pulse, even though it was slower than it should have been, and her breathing seemed irregular.

I looked up at Lissa, who was wrinkling her nose at something, maybe the blood, maybe Max, whatever. "Go get someone," I said.

She looked at me in disbelief. "Why should I? She didn't get someone for me when she pushed me."

I stood up so that I towered over her. "You're selfish, you know that?" I snapped. I turned around and tried to lift Max, being careful of her head and the blood all over her shirt. I quickly jogged up the steps and banged the door with my foot. For a couple seconds no one came to the door and I panicked a little. What was I gonna do? Max had already lost a lot of blood and she'd probably hit her head and gotten a concussion. But then Ella appeared at the door and I felt a wash of relief.

Ella looked horrified. "What happened?" she demanded.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "We were just taking a walk and I saw her curled up at the bottom of the steps in a very scary pool of blood."

"Oh my God," Ella breathed. "My mom isn't home!"

"Call 911," I suggested.

"Good idea!" Ella sprinted back into the house to place the call. "Put Max on the couch! It's old, my mom won't care if it gets stained. And find a blanket or something and try to stop the blood, or at least clean it up!"

I walked in and gently put Max down on the couch. Luckily, there was an old blanket over the arm of the couch, and I pressed it to Max's head, not sure where the blood was coming from. I heard the click of heels on polished wood and turned around to see Lissa standing in the foyer, looking torn.

"Just leave," I said quietly. I was suddenly exausted with her, not pissed off. I just didn't want her there anymore.

"Fang-" she began.

"Lissa, don't even. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

She nodded mutely and left. I turned back to Max and mopped the blood off her shoulder and tried to get some of it out of her hair, but it was already drying, so I decided to leave it before I hurt her head more.

Ella appeared in the living room. "The ambulance is on its way," she reported as the wail of sirens started up in the distance.

"Good," I said softly. Ella walked over with a roll of paper towels. She took over cleaning Max off while I just stood to the side silently. I could see the intense worry in Ella's eyes. She was terrified at the thought of her sister being hurt. Tears suddenly overflowed Ella's eyes and then she was sobbing. I felt awkward just standing there so I patted her shoulder comfortingly.

"She'll be okay," I said quietly, even though I hadn't quite convinced myself yet. "She'll be okay."

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><p><strong>Clarification: THEY'RE NOT FALLING FOR EACH OTHER YET. Fang is just worried about Max. Hey, wouldn't you be worried if you saw someone on the ground in a puddle of blood?<strong>

**Exactly.**

**Sorry if it's kinda suckish. I wrote it in like half an hour.**

**If you haven't gotten the vibe yet, there's a Fang/Lissa break up right around the corner. Yes I'm pulling out the keep-you-on-your-toes card again.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	9. Hospital

**I love it when I log onto Facebook and I have 34 notifications just from one friend. Ahah I love her she's the best.**

**Anyhoo, you have her to thank for this chapter 'cause that put me in a good mood and I decided to write another chapter. :]**

**LovelyMidnightSpark-Haha I'm already plotting the perfect cliffie for the end of this chapter :). Lol just kidding, I don't plan anything. And ugh for nosy moms! :P**

**Sierra156-Perhaps in this chapter..? Idk I haven't decided yet lol. But I'm gonna try to make this one long, so there's probably gonna be the grand breakup scene at the end :D**

**Night Wolf- Aah. Lucky! And I ramble too! Old habits die hard lol**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. :]**

**Btw I probably won't be able to update that fast cause I have my friends birthday party tonight. And it goes til like noon tomorrow. And by the time I get back, I will be in no mood to write.**

**Time to stop rambling and start typing. Btw this is Max POV again. It's always Max POV unless it says otherwise.**

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><p>I was hovering on that distinct line between awake and asleep. Like, I could hear what was going on, I had the use of my senses, but my mind was still half asleep, refusing to let the rest of my body wake up. I could hear a sluggish beeping close to my head. The beeping was enough I fully wake me up. I struggled to open my eyes.<p>

What I saw was a blindingly white room staring me in the face, with at least four people hovering over me wearing doctor's masks. They were looking at me like I was a science experiment, and that immediately put me on edge and made me uncomfortable. Time for the science fair to end.

"Back. . .off," I said wearily. My voice sounded weak and whispery, and I struggled to make my voice sound stronger. "Give me some breathing room." I coughed and suddenly became awake of a throbbing pain in my head. I forced my mind to rewind and paused on when I'd been walking outside. I'd slipped. . .and hit my head on a flower pot. I lifted my hand gingerly to my head, but a doctor immediately grabbed my hand and pinned it down to the bed.

"Don't touch it," she ordered. Her voice sounded worried. "Could you explain what happened to your head?"

"I slipped. And I think. . ." I squinted against the pain in my head. "I hit my head on a flower pot."

The doctor winced sympathetically. "Okay, well we stitched you up," she assured me, patting my shoulder gently. "You had to get thirty-two stitches in your head. They'll dissolve in a couple weeks, but until then you should probably keep a band-aid over the area."

An image of me walking around at school with a huge band-aid in my hair flashed through my head. "Uh, how would I do that?" Under normal circumstances, I already would've laughed in this doctor's face and told her no freaking way. But I was just too exausted to fight.

"An Ace bandage," she suggested. (**A/N: I think that's what they're called...?**) "The kind that's kinda like tape. You could wrap it around your head so that it doesn't get tangled in your hair."

"But. . .but I would look stupid!" I said. I could feel panic rising up in my chest. It would be hard to fit in if I constantly had a toilet-paper-bandage thing around my head all the time. Usually I don't care about fitting in, I just didn't want the stares and the whispers and people pointing at me.

"You're off school for a couple days until you don't have to wear the bandage anymore," she said soothingly. "Your family is going to come in and visit you now."

I nodded helplessly and watched her and the other doctors leave. I felt so vulnerable, just sitting there in the hospital bed, with the thick white comforter covering me so that only my head poked out from under it. So I just sat there in silence, hoping that this was all just really a dream.

The door opened and my mom stepped in, looking nervous. Ella was clutching her arm.

"Hey, Mom," I muttered. Mom took one look at me and burst into tears. Ella was trying not to cry, but tears were making wet tracks down her cheeks despite her efforts.

"Max, are you okay?" Mom moved closer to me, hovering over me like she wasn't sure what to do. I wriggled around until my hand was free of the blanket and held it out to her. She wrapped both her hands tightly around mine.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "When do I get to leave?"

"Uh, I'm not sure sweetie," she said. She glanced at my heart monitor, the source of the annoying beeping. "I think after they wrap up your head you're good to go."

I sighed. "I'm going to look like such an idiot."

"That doesn't matter," Ella said. "What matters is that you get better, Max. What the hell happened? One second you were running upstairs to hide from me, and the next second Fang was banging on the door. There was so much blood." She shivered. "Mom and I both donated blood, 'cause you lost so much."

I struggled to wrap my head around that. "How long was I unconcious for before someone found me."

"I don't know. But _Fang_ was carrying you inside." Ella waggled her eyebrows at me and I barely stopped myself from hissing at her. In front of Mom? Ugh.

"Shut up, Ella," I snapped. Ella rolled her eyes and grinned at me.

"In fact," my mom interrupted smoothly, giving Ella a stern look. "Mr. and Mrs. Thorne and their kids are here to see you. Fang told his mom and Mrs. Thorne has been worried sick about you ever since. She's such a sweet lady."

Just then the door opened again and a family of four stepped in. The first two were obviously Fang's parents. The woman had really pretty blue eyes and chin-length black hair. Fang's dad had darker eyes, almost as dark as Fang, but had lighter hair than his wife. Nudge and Fang were standing uncertainly behind them, looking worried. Or at least Nudge was. Fang was just emotionless as always.

"Max!" Mrs. Thorne cried. She speed-walked over to stand next to my mom. Her face was filled with concern as she looked down at me. "Max, are you feeling better dear? I'm sorry we had to meet like this. I'm just glad that you're okay now!" Her smile lit up her whole face.

I forced my face to smile back at her. "Me too. I'm sorry we couldn't have dinner tonight," I lied. Luckily I was a pretty convincing liar.

"We'll just have to find some other way to get aquantinced." Her smile never dimmed.

"Dr. Martinez?" A nurse stuck her head in the room. "We need you to come up front and sign some paperwork."

Mom sighed. "Sure," she agreed reluctantly.

"We'll come keep you company," Mrs. Thorne offered. Mr. Thorne just stood silently off to the side. "Come on," Mrs. Thorne said, gesturing to him. "We'll let the kids talk." The three parents left to room, shutting the door tightly behind them.

"ZOMG MAX! I was sooo scared when Fang said that you hit your head and passed out. I was terrified! I was crying and I begged my mom to let me come to the hospital with them and she finally said yes and I was just sitting there in the waiting room thinking, 'I don't know what I'll do if Max isn't okay!'" Nudge blabbered.

"It's okay, Nudge. I'm feeling lots better. My head just hurts a little." Actually, it felt like someone had used my head as a drum in a punk rock band, but there was no reason to get Nudge worried.

"Good," she breathed, relieved. "I was so scared."

I smiled at her and forced myself to sit up. I was tired of feeling so vulnerable. Sitting up actually felt better.

I glanced past Nudge to stare accusingly at Fang. "So you find me passed out at the bottom of my porch steps and you didn't wake me up?" I hated to think about what had happened when I was passed out. Just thinking about Ella freaking out over Fang carrying me inside. . .ugh. I'd never hear the end of it.

He just smirked for a split second and shook his head mockingly. "Yeah. That was your payback for getting blood on my jacket."

"I wouldn't have gotten blood on your jacket if you had woken me up."

"I figured it was more quiet with you passed out." He shook his head. "And my God, Ride, you scared me. I'm just strolling down the street, enjoying the sun, and then bam-I see you curled up in your own blood on the ground."

"I'll try to keep the bleeding to a minimum next time."

"You do that." His phone bleeped and he plucked it out of his pocket, glanced at the number, and sighed. "Be right back," he muttered, leaving the room.

I rolled my eyes and settled against the headboard of the bed. Ella was giving me one of her famous evil grins. Oh God. She was planning something.

"Max, would you prefer pink roses or white roses at your wedding?"

I whipped a pillow at her.

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><p>Fang POV<p>

My phone started beeping at me. I took it out of my pocket and saw that Lissa was calling me. "Be right back," I sighed as I turned and left the room.

"Hello?"

"Fang." Lissa sounded relieved that I'd picked up. "How's Max?"

There was that false tone in her voice again. "Fine," I said carefully.

"Good to hear. So I was thinking tomorrow night-"

"Lissa," I interrupted. "I was thinking a lot before, and I gotta say-I really think we should break up."

There was a tiny second of silence, then a shriek shattering my eardrums. "_WHAT_?"

"We're better off without each other," I said, coming up with a random explanation other than _You're annoying_.

"No, Fang you don't-Fine. Fine! You're probably just tired and confused and you'll feel better tomorrow. And then we can go for ice cream after school. Okay? Okay." She sounded like she was trying to reassure herself. "Bye."

I didn't say bye back. I just hung up and turned my phone off, grinning. Even though she'd continuously pester me about it, I felt a million times more free than I had this afternoon.

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><p><strong>Sorry I was gonna make this longer but I wanted to get this chapter up before I left for my friend's house.<strong>

**Bye bye lovely readers. You're all amazing.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	10. Final Break Up

**Alright so I just got back from my friend's sleepover party, and we went swimming all night, so I have swimmers ear. And I'm pretty pissed off cause of that. At least I didn't have to sleep on the floor. Woot woot.**

**LovelyMidnightSpark-same here :D My friend gets jealous when my older cousin picks me up and throws me in the pool, because she finds him hot and it's awkward. Lol that was kinda totally off topic. And thanks (:**

**Fowlmaniac-I have no idea where that is, but I enjoy Wifi so I'll steer clear.. if I can.**

**Sierra156-no worries, I am too :D I totally would've had Max throw Lissa down a well, but that didn't seem relevant to the story. But I am definitely writing more Lissa/Max conflict :D AND FAX. speaking of**

**GUYS I REALLY WANNA START WRITING SOME FAX BUT IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S TOO SOON. ASUIDHRAUEHFUABDFUJB okay enjoy the story. btw this is AFTER Max is all healed up and the stitches dissolved. Idk how long it takes for dissolvable stitches to dissolve, but it's only been a couple weeks. I had to get her back to school so she could keep seeing Fang.**

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><p>"Please, Max."<p>

"We've already had this discussion. NO."

"Oh come on! You've been out for a couple weeks and you need to come back and make a statement that you're better than ever. And you can't do that in a plain t-shirt."

Ella was trying to convince me to let her dress me up again, which I was saying a big HELL NO to. I was drawing the line. I had been thinking, and I'd decided that my injury was a consequence for letting people dress me up and control me. It made me feel like neon Play Doh. You know, like, manipulated, kinda? Yeah.

"I don't need to make a statement. The point is to fit in, not be all 'look at me!'" I pointed out.

"But. . .come on, Max. You're not really wearing that as your back to school outfit, are you?"

I glanced down at my outfit. Black skinny jeans with a deep purple hoodie over a black t-shirt with my old beat-up black Converse. "Uh, yeah, I am."

Ella sighed in frustration. "If you don't let me dress you up, I am demanding my shirt back," she announced, holding out her hand.

I grabbed the tank top from my first day out of the darkest corner of my closet. "Here you go," I said cheerfully, slapping it into her outstretched hand. "See ya." I jogged downstairs and was out the door, backpack in hand, in record time.

It was actually a pretty nice day. I took that as a good sign; maybe the weather was welcoming me back to school? Oh whatever. I overthink stuff.

Fang was waiting for me on his porch. In the couple weeks that I'd been out of school, I had been insanely bored and ended up sitting out on my front lawn a lot. Fang had made a habit of coming over to give me my homework and give my mom baked goods from his mom. And let me tell you, his mom was a fabulous cook. Her brownies? Mmm. But her chocolate-chip cookies still didn't top my mom's.

So anyway, Fang would come over and sit with me and give me my homework and do his homework. Sometimes I would get my guitar and sing while he did his homework. It annoyed him because he said he couldn't focus, which only inspired me to play and sing louder.I'd only known him for a couple weeks, but he was already my best friend, along with Nudge and everyone else I sat with at lunch.

"How's your gaping head wound?" he teased when I crossed the street to his house.

"Fabulous." I stepped on his foot. "Let's go."

"So you're ditching Ella to walk with me? I'm honored."

"Ella tried to dress me up, therefore Ella was left behind," I retorted.

He shook his head, the tiniest hint of a smile playing at the edge of his lips. "She still thinks you're her life-size Barbie doll?" I'd explained to Fang my frustration at being dressed up.

"Yes," I said bitterly.

Fang turned his head, but I could see his shoulders shaking and knew he was laughing. I smacked his shoulder. "Not funny," I insisted.

With effort, Fang stopped laughing and shook his head. "Nope. Not funny at all." His lips were trembling.

"Asshole," I muttered. He started laughing all over again. "Shut up!" But his laughter was kinda contagious and even I had to try not to laugh. "You know what? You laugh at me, you give me a ride to school." I shoved my backpack at him and hopped on his back, piggy back style.

"Oof," he muttered. He tried to reach around and push me off his back, but I shrieked and hung on for dear life. "No. . .air," he choked out, referring to my chokehold on his neck.

"No air, no air," I sang, but loosened my hold and dropped from Fang's back. I took my backpack from him and hummed cheerfully, ignoring the dirty look he was giving me.

Have I mentioned how fun it is to annoy Fang? No? Well I have now.

linebreak

I had pretty fast reflexes, always had. So even though my arms were loaded with textbooks and binders, I was still able to duck and dodge the fist heading for my face.

"What the f-" I stood up and came eye-to-eye with Lissa, who was glaring at me coldly. "What the hell's wrong with you?" I snapped.

"You're ruining my life!" she shouted. I had to try not to laugh because she sounded exactly like the commercial for one of those learning center things. I think it was named like Huntingdon or something. Anyway. (**A/N: If you've ever seen those commercials you know what I'm talking about**.)

"So how did I ruin your life this time," I said sarcastically.

"You're pushing Fang away from me! He tried to break up with me last night _over the phone_. And the whole school saw you walk in with him this morning. What, you think that just because he tried and failed to break up with me that suddenly he's all yours? That's not how it works!"

"I'm not pushing Fang away from you," I replied calmly. "And he lives across the street from me, so we walk to school together. So sue me. What, you think that just because you're a slut he still wants you?"

Lissa took a swing at me again. I simply caught her hand before it could hit me and flung it away from me. She looked absolutely shocked.

"Watch where you step," I whispered as I passed her. I kicked the heel of her non-practical stiletto and she shrieked as if I'd stabbed her. I just laughed again and walked all the way to gym with a huge smile on my face.

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><p>Fang POV<p>

"Faaaaang!"

Oh crap. Hide. I whipped my head around, looking for somewhere to hide. Double crap. No convienient hiding places.

"_Fang_." I felt Lissa's fake tips dig into my shoulder. I turned my head to look at her.

"Let go of me," I said, pushing her hand off my shoulder.

She frowned and matched her pace to mine so she was walking next to me. "So I was thinking tonight we could walk directly to the ice cream place after school and-"

"Lissa, just stop." I grabbed her arm to stop her. She turned to me with the most fake innocent expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Fangy?" she whimpered.

"I broke up with you and you keep trying to act like we're together. We are not dating anymore, okay? So just stop trying." I walked away before she could start using that retarded squealy voice.

I allowed myself a smile as I walked down the hall to the cafeteria.

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><p><strong>I'm sorry this is kinda on the short side. I'm already writing the next chapter. And I'm honestly kinda shocked that I've already written <em>ten chapters<em> for this. &I'm surprised that people actually like this.**

**Reviews=Chapter 11**

**Keep on dancin till the world ends!**

**Sorry I have that song stuck in my head.**

**Hey I might actually start signing the end of my chapters like that. Hehe.**

**Okay bye.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	11. She Won't Bother You Anymore

**I'M SORRY THIS UPDATE CAME KINDA LATE.**

**I didn't get home til six yesterday and then I had to have dinner, and then one of my favorite shows was on, then I had to take like a half hour shower just to get the smell of chlorine out of my hair, and by then it was like nine thirty and I was really tired and went to bed...again with the sounding like Nudge.  
>Okay so moving awn.<strong>

**Fowlmaniac-alright I'm good. I'm paranoid about locations, so all I'm saying is I've never been further south than North Carolina. And I've never been further west than Pennsylvania. And I don't plan to really travel anytime soon, cause I like the East Coast. Kinda. Again with the Nudge rambling thing.**

**Mimi-you just gave me an idea. I'm not gonna make that happen exactly, but something in that category cause I hate Lissa:D. So THANK YOU :)**

**Anna Ride-I'm gonna start using that word with my friends. Once I learn to pronounce it. And it doesn't show me what time you sent it, but with the time zones thing and all that.. lol I'm rambling, again.**

**LovelyMidnightSpark-Trust me, it's awkward squared. And this is kinda random but I just got an idea for this chapter. Like right at this very moment as I'm typing this.**

**I'm gonna stop being such a Nudge and start the dang chapter.**

**AND OOOOOPPPSS. I didn't do a disclaimer for the last couple chapters. Let's make up for that now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Do I write like James Patterson? Didn't think so.**

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><p>Fang POV<p>

Max wasn't talking to me.

The last time she'd voluntarily talked to me was when we were walking to school yesterday morning. She wasn't in art because she'd had to get her homework from other teachers. She'd told me before art that Miss Kenkel had already excused her from class. There was nothing going on yesterday in art anyway. She'd been completely silent during lunch. Distant. During the whole thirty-one-minute lunch period, she had never once spoken directly to me. When I'd gone to her locker after school to walk home with her and Ella, she wasn't there. And after school she wasn't out on her lawn doing homework like she always was.

I couldn't come up with a reasonable explaination for her avoiding me.

I finally caught up to Max right before art. For once, she wasn't speed walking and I caught up to her easily.

"So why has the great Maximum Ride been ignoring me?"

"I'm not ignoring you," she said quickly. Too quickly.

"Hmm. So is that why you ignored me at lunch yesterday, and after school, and before school this morning?" I arched an eyebrow at her.

"Okay listen." She yanked my sleeve and pulled me to the side of the mostly deserted hallway. She glanced around quickly before she spoke. "I really just don't wanna have to deal with this right now. I mean, I have to catch up on my school work and I don't need any distractions."

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused. "What do you not want to deal with?"

"Lissa," she hissed. "Under normal circumstances, I'd crush her like a bug. But I really can't deal with her right now."

"And how does this lead to ignoring me?"

"She thinks that you broke up with her because we've been spending time together lately," she sighed. "I don't have time to deal with her," she repeated.

I was silent as I processed this. "Okay, I see your point; I'll talk to Lissa for you if you want."

She nodded, looking troubled. "Thanks."

I held out my arms to her and she smiled and hugged me. Over Max's shoulder I saw Lissa emerging out of the girls' bathroom. When she saw me hugging Max, her green eyes darkened. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and click-clacked away.

(**A/N: Aw I love Fax. This is kinda foreshadowing Fax in the next chapters. Like, the bridge to Fax. Kinda. Time to stop rambling. Again.**)

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><p>I had math right before lunch. Unfortunately, I had this class with Lissa. And what was depressing was that we were assigned to work together on a project within the first ten minutes of class.<p>

"Fang," Lissa said evenly.

I stayed silent. I'd talk to her only when I absolutely had to. I was planning to tell her to leave Max alone at the end of class.

After a couple minutes of awkward silence, I stood up. "I'll get the graph paper," I offered. Anything to get away from Lissa.

The rest of the class was awkward. Lissa and I barely talked, and when we did it was stuff like "pass the ruler" or "can I borrow a pencil?" or talk about the project. I was surprised that Lissa had actually shut up when I told her that it was time for us to _really_ break up. Every guy who had dated Lissa knew how clingy she was (trust me, there are a lot of guys). Even after a guy broke up with her, she'd follow him around and act like they were still dating. Actually, most people knew this because one of Lissa's old boyfriends had sent her an email about her following him around too much. Only he'd accidentally sent it to everyone on his address list. _Oops_.

The bell finally rang and I grabbed my stuff and followed Lissa out of the classroom.

"Hey," I said, tapping her on the shoulder. "I wanna talk to you."

Lissa turned around and gave me a flirty smile. "Sure, Fang." She grabbed my arm and towed me into an empty classroom. "Soo," she said as she sat down on a desk. Poor desk. "What's up?"

I took a quick, deep breath. "You need to leave Max alone," I said without any preamble.

Her posture stiffened. "I've only talked to Max once," she retorted quickly.

"Liar."

Her eyes darkened.

"Max told me everything, okay? The girl was just in the hospital and out of school for two weeks. She wants to catch up on her school work so she won't fail. And she's been stressing over how you're treating her, which makes it hard for her to focus. Just. . .please leave her alone. Okay? Don't even mention this to her. If you hurt her, or try to hurt her, or even talk to her, I'll know. Okay?"

Lissa's lip-gloss-covered mouth was hanging open in shock. Without giving her a chance to respond, I left the classroom and let the door fall shut with a bang behind me.

Let's hear it for big-brother protectiveness, eh?

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><p>Max POV<p>

I don't know what Fang said to Lissa, but it worked.

After lunch, I'd seen her multiple times in the hallway, and I was sure she'd seen me too. But she got this look on her face, almost like she was _scared_, and turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

It was awesome.

Fang and I walked home together after school. I asked him about Lissa.

Fang's expression hardened. "She won't bother you anymore, okay? I took care of it."

I smiled softly. "Thanks," I said, and bumped him with my shoulder. That escalated into a mini-fight, during which we tried to knock each other off the sidewalk by bumping shoulders. I lost.

We didn't even go into our houses, we just went strait to my front lawn and started working on our homework. I was completely absorbed in my schoolwork until an annoying tapping noise broke into my concentration. I tried to ignore it, but it seemed to get louder by the second and intruded on my concentration. I glanced up slightly to see Fang tapping his pencil against his social studies textbook. I cleared my throat pointedly, but he kept tapping the pencil.

"Quit it," I said in irritation. A smile hovered on his lips and he kept tapping. I finally leaned over and put my hand over the pencil to stop the noise.

Fang chuckled. I looked up in surprise to see that my face was about half a foot from his. My hand was still over his pencil, my hand slightly touching his. I felt heat rush to my cheeks and I quickly pulled away and looked back down at my notebook, trying to find my spot again.

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><p><strong>Aww I'm sorry. I just had to start the Fax. A little. I'll try to be good and hold off a little, cause it still feels like I'm starting the Faxiness too soon.<strong>

**Alright well The Nine Lives of Chloe King is on in half an hour and I need to shower before then. So I'll quit my rambling and go shower.**

**P.S. I need song suggestions, for later in the story. You'll find out why. No it's not for a contest or anything. I'm just dead on song suggestions at the moment.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	12. Confused and Torn

**Sometimes, I wonder what it would be like to be a spider in my house. Because I just saw a spider on my wall and I flicked it like all the way across the room with a notebook. It would be awesome to fly across the room like that!**

**I'm sorry that was very random.**

**Alright thank you to all reviewers and people who suggested songs. Normally I'd just ramble on and answer you all one at a time, but I wanna just start writing.**

**Disclaimer: Me? Own Maximum Ride? Lol no.**

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><p>I finished my homework before Fang, so I went inside and grabbed my guitar. Fang didn't even have to look up to know what I was holding in my hand.<p>

"If you play one note I will come into your room at night and throw you in the neighbors' pool," he said, eyes still on his notebook.

"I'm terrified," I muttered and plopped myself down on the grass. I positioned my guitar on my thigh and teasingly let my fingers hover over the strings as I smirked at Fang. He just looked at me in amusement, like he was daring me to play and see what would happen. I decided to see how far I could push him before he exploded, and started playing. (**A/N: The song is Torn by Natalie Imbruglia. Max is singing it from the middle of the song, not the beginning. I got this idea from my dance recital; one of the lyrical solos was to this song. And this is stuck in my head.**)

_There's nothing where he used to lie  
><em>_My conversation has run dry  
><em>_That's what's goin on  
><em>_Nothing's fine, I'm torn_

I was forced to stop when Fang tossed a textbook at my head and I started laughing uncontrolably. I got up and started running around the yard, abandoning my guitar. "I'm being chased!" I hollered as I zipped around the side of the house. I glanced behind me to see that Fang was about ten steps behind me. I was running out of breath from running and cracking up at the same time. I ran for the big tree in my backyard and quickly scrambled up the low branches. I climbed until I reached the top of the relatively short tree. I tried to control my laughter as Fang climbed up after me.

"I'm going to tickle you to death," Fang threatened.

"I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn!" I sang at the top of my lungs. When Fang had almost climbed my branch, I slipped nimbly off the branch and landed on the ground a few feet below. I ran around to the front of the house again, Fang on my heels. He was closer this time; maybe five steps away.

Fang finally caught me when I was looping around the side of the house. He tackled me when I'd almost tripped over my own two feet. As soon as he caught me and tackled me, he started tickling me, which I assure you, I _hate_. Being tickled is my weakness.

"Get. . .away!" I managed to say between giggles. I braced my arms against his chest and shoved him off me with all my strength. He laughed at me.

"Nice to know your weakness," he chuckled. I frowned.

"Help me up," I ordered. He stuck his hand out and I took it. He hauled me easily to my feet, but didn't let go of my hand. And we just stood there for a couple seconds, frozen, staring at each other.

"Max!" my mom hollered. "Come fold your own laundry! I'm tired of doing it for you!"

I jumped at the sound of my mom's voice and quickly extracted my hand from Fang's. "Duty calls," I said quickly. "Otherwise known as Mom. Okay so I'll see you tomorrow morning, alright? Bye." I dashed up the stairs and yanked open the door as quickly as I could. Once inside, I slammed the door and leaned against it, letting myself slide all the way to the floor. I forced myself to get up and go fold my laundry-ugh.

I went to go grab my laundry basket from the living room, where my mom always left it. I couldn't help glancing out the front window as I did so. Fang already had his stuff packed up and his backpack slung over his shoulder. Feeling my gaze on his back, he turned and looked right at me. He tilted his head in a way that meant _whataya need?_

I pointed to my guitar, which was still on the lawn. _Guitar_, I mouthed back. I pointed to the front door, hoping he got the message. I ran over to the front door and struggled to open it with the laundry basket occupying one of my hands.

Fang was already standing on the porch, guitar in hand when I finally managed to open it. "Lose something?" he teased, and handed me the guitar.

"I'd punch you if I had a free hand," I assured him, but grabbed the guitar. "See ya tomorrow."

" 'Kay," he replied absently as he turned and started walking back to his house. I bumped the door closed with my hip, pressing my back against it to make sure it was closed. I set down the guitar and laundry basket and flopped on the couch. I allowed myself a minute to puzzle over what, exactly, was going through Fang's mind lately. But then again, did I even know what _I_ was thinking? Lately. . .my thought were just a jumbled mess that I easily got lost in.

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><p>When I went to bed that night, I was still confused over the whole thing with Fang. It was probably just an off day for both of us, right? I mean, Fang had seemed kinda more distracted than usual at school today. And I was still stressing over school.<p>

"Oh whatever," I hissed to myself. Oh great. Add that to my list of I'll-Get-To-It-Later. I'm talking to myself. I snapped off the light and tried to lie still and shut down my mind.

But the darkness of my room reminded me too much of Fang's dark eyes. I got up and wrenched open a window, hoping the cool air would calm me and help me fall asleep. I propped my elbows up on the windowsill and rested my chin on my folded arms. The air outside was the perfect temperature; not to humid and hot, but not quite cold enough for you to have to wear a jacket. It was one of those perfectly in-between autumn nights.

A flicker of light across the street caught my attention. I stared hard into the darkness, hoping to see it again. I did, and saw that it was a perfect square of light from across the street. Someone must have just turned a light on. I let my gaze wander again until the window across the street opened and someone poked their head out. _Fang_. Of course. Because this is my life, right? And I can't even poke my head outside without seeing Fang and getting all stressed again.

I went completely motionless, hoping Fang wouldn't look my way. Unfortunately, the last thing I want is usually the first thing I get. Fang looked straight at me, and even from a distance I could see him wave. I forced my numb hand to wave back at him, but the movement felt stiff. Robotic. I retreated back into my room, slammed the window shut, and was back in bed in record time.

Oh right, like I would be able to fall asleep _now_.

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><p><strong>I'm sorry this kinda sucked and it's short. Promise the next chapter will be longer. But I'm sleeping over my cousins' house on Friday, then sleeping over my friends house from Sunday into the Fourth. So I'm sorry if I don't get to update for a while. Plus I'm running out of ideas for this.<strong>

**Scroll down and click the review button down there. :)**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	13. Snickerdoodles

**Ohmigawsh.**

**Okay so picture this; I'm in the car today, on my way back from the pool, and BAM an idea for this story hits me. You have no idea how ridiculously excited I am. But I'm gonna build up some more Fax though. SLOWLY. Still takin it slow.**

**And how can I _ever _thank you guys for the 72 reviews? You guys are just plain awesome. No, more than plain awesome. Like, bedazzled awesome.**

**Okay time to start the chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson. Am I James Patterson? Psh no.**

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><p>The next morning Fang and I walked to school together the next morning. The awkwardness seemed to be gone between us, and we were back to playfully teasing each other and arguing. I was relieved that things could <em>finally<em> go back to normal.

When I got to school, the first thing I heard was Nudge's super-loud squeal in my ear. "Maaaaax!" She'd gotten to school earlier than Fang and I. She did every day.

"Ow, Nudge, what?" I complained. I rubbed my ear and glared playfully at Nudge. I could never really be mad at Nudge. She was like my sister.

"I gotta talk to you," she bubbled, then frowned at Fang. "I gotta talk to Max. You gotta go."

Fang shrugged. "See you in social studies," he said to me before departing. I gave him a quick nod and turned back to Nudge.

"Okay so I was thinking that tonight we should have a sleepover! We never really hang out which is kinda ridiculous because we're best friends and you like right across the street. I mean I know Fang does homework with you during the week, but we never get to do homework together or hang out or anything. So I was thinking, why not have a sleepover?" She threw her arms up in the air as if she'd just jumped out of a huge birthday cake. The only thing she needed was confetti and one of those annoying paper horns to complete the scene.

The more I thought about the sleepover, the more it seemed like a good idea. Until I remembered that Nudge lived in the same house as Fang, and my stomach dropped. What if we had another one of those awkward, more-than-friends moments? I wasn't sure if I could handle that. But I couldn't disappoint Nudge.

I took a deep breath before answering. "Sure," I said slowly. "That would be awesome." I forced my numb face to smile at Nudge.

"Oh, thank you Max!" Nudge cried, throwing her arms around me. I laughed and hugged Nudge back as she rambled. "We'll have so much fun! Bring movies over and we'll have an all-night movie marathon and we can eat chocolate and popcorn and whatever other junk food you want! Ooh, and we can bake brownies! And I'll paint your nails and give you a makeover-"

I held my hand up. "Nudge, you know I don't like being treated like a life-sized Barbie doll," I reminded her sternly.

Nudge's face radiated innocence. "Oh, please, Max! It would be so fun! We can give each other blind makeovers. Or I can paint your nails and you can wash it right off! Pleaaaaase." Nudge held her hands together as if she were praying.

I shook my head so forcefully, my hair flew out like Medusa's snakes. "No. Way." I snapped my eyes shut so she couldn't give me Bambi eyes.

After a couple silent seconds, Nudge sighed. "Fine, Max. But you'll learn soon not to give up makeovers." I opened my eyes to see Nudge throwing me one more exasperated look before sauntering away to her locker.

I breathed out a huge sigh of relief. I was getting better and better at avoiding makeovers.

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><p>I slammed my books down on my desk just as the bell rang. Perfect timing.<p>

"Nice," Fang's voice muttered. I turned around and shot him a death glare.

"Oh, like you're never late to class," I shot back sarcastically. "I'm not even late."

"Miss Ride," Mrs. Jenner barked. I twisted around and dropped casually into my seat. Mrs. Jenner didn't scare me any more. If anything, Mrs. Jenner seemed to be scared of my sarcastic comebacks. Although they usually got me sent to the office. But the secratary there usually dismissed all kids sent by Mrs. Jenner. She knew Mrs. Jenner had a habit of overreacting and let all her students off the hook.

About ten minutes in to Mrs. Jenner's boring lecture, I felt something poke my elbow. A square of paper. I extended my arm slightly, a signal for Fang to drop the paper into my hand. I felt the paper land in my palm and quickly curled my fingers around it so Mrs. Jenner wouldn't see. When she wasn't looking, I unfolded the paper and took a peek. (_Italics=Fang_, Underline = Max)

_What did Nudge want?_

I'm sleeping over tonight. She wants to give me a makeover.

_HA. I'd love to see that._

I'd outsmart you both and escape.

_Not likely._

I beg to differ.

_I'd knock you out and tie you to a chair_.

Do it and you die.

When the bell rang, I crumpled up the paper and tossed it at Fang's head. He threw it right back at me and I ducked, laughing.

"Nicolas and Maximum," Mrs. Jenner boomed. We turned to face her, still grinning from our mini paper war.

"Office. Now."

I ambled out of the classroom with Fang right behind me. We took our time getting to the office; Miss Kenkel wouldn't care if we were late.

Luck was not with us today. The usual secretary was out sick and a different woman was behind the counter. So we actually had to sit in the uncomfortable ugly orange folding chairs and wait for the principal to be ready to talk to us.

"I feel so badass," Fang chuckled darkly. Students coming and going from the office gaped at us, and the teachers gave us disapproving glares.

"Get used to it," I muttered, shifting uncomfortably in my chair. Was it so hard to get padding for these chairs? Fang shifted too, and his fingers brushed mine, sending an electric tingle up my arm. I almost jumped right off the chair, but forced myself to stay calm and casually moved my hand away instead. That was already three awkward moments in less than two days. Seriously, what was going on?

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><p>"No! But the thick blanket on the bottom," Nudge instructed.<p>

I looked at her in exasperation. "Does it really matter what order they go in?"

"Yes!" she insisted. "Put the thickest one on the bottom so we won't hurt our backs laying on the floor."

If you haven't already guessed, I was already at Nudge's (and Fang's) house, setting up for our sleepover. We decided to take care of where we would sleep first. We were setting up in her living room, in front of the big-screen TV for our movie marathon.

I tossed the thick blue blanket out so it settled perfectly over the floor. Nudge smiled, satisfied, and layered a couple unzipped sleeping bags over that.

"Put that one on next," Nudge ordered. I obeyed and put another blanket down on top of the sleeping bags. We kept going back and forth like that, taking turns putting blankets down until we had an area of thick, comfy padding to sleep on. Then we started working on the pillows. We surrounded the blanket area with long round pillows that I always called trees. I don't know, they just looked like trees to me. Without leaves. Or branches. Once our area was properly closed off with pillows, we tossed half a dozen pillows down across the top and declared the place finished.

"Perfect," Nudge said, sounding satisfied. "Can I straighten your hair?" she begged.

It had been like this since the second I'd walked in the door. "Can I do your makeup?" or "Can I dress you up?" or "Can I paint your nails?" I'd said no, no, and _no _to everything she'd suggested so far. But I didn't really mind having my hair straightened. In fact, I kind of liked it better straight.

"Fine," I allowed. "But that's it! No makeup or dress up." Nudge nodded eagerly and sprinted upstairs to grab her straightener. I sighed and plopped down on the couch. Dealing with Nudge should be a paying job. It'd look great on my resume.

"Look who's here," Fang teased, coming in from the kitchen.

"Haven't you heard? I'm here to steal all the food from your fridge and make a run for it."

"Just don't take the snickerdoodles. Hot out of the oven."

I bolted upright. "Cookies?" I sniffed the air, and sure enough, there was the slight scent of cinnamon in the air. Fang and I locked eyes for a split second and we both sprinted for the kitchen at the same time. Fang got to the cookies before me and angled his body in front of the plate of cookies, extending his arms so I could get past him. I hurtled to a stop right in front of him, inches from his face. I took a quick step backwards and shook my head to clear it, as if my mind was an Etch-A-Sketch.

"No cookies for Max," he sang.

"You're a horrible host," I growled, trying to duck under his arm. He quickly swatted my head away and I punched him in the arm. Hard. He cursed under his breath and I grinned triumphantly.

"I will guard these cookies with my life," he announced.

I shrugged and backed up a couple steps, then ran the distance and head-butted him in the stomach. OW. My head hit rock-hard abs.

"Oof," Fang muttered. He placed his hands on my shoulders to hold me away at arms length. I tried to break free, but his hands were like steel traps on my shoulders. I tried pushing against his hands instead, but my feet just scrambled uselessly at the floor.

Fang chuckled and, totally shocking me, easily scooped me up. I totally would've kicked and screamed and fought him if I wasn't so taken by surprise. Fang carried me to the living room and dumped me down on the sleeping area Nudge and I had prepared five minutes ago. Luckily, I've always been ninja-like and managed to twist around and land on my hands and knees, like a cat or Spiderman or something.

Nudge came downstairs then to find Fang and I chasing each other in and out of the kitchen and around the living room, punching each other when we got close enough. "STOP!" Nudge hollered. I skidded to a stop and smashed into Fang's back. I shoved him and quickly stepped away and grinned sheepishly at Nudge, who had her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised. "Someone explain, slowly."

"Fang wouldn't let me have a cookie!" I shouted, at the same exact time as Fang said "Max was gonna steal our food."

Nudge just shook her head and went to get the plate of cookies. She held up a hand at us to make us stay still while she carried the cookies over to the blankets and carefully placed them down in the center. I eagerly ran over and grabbed a cookie, stuffing it whole into my mouth. Mmm. Delicious.

"Geez, Max, do they feed you over there?" Nudge asked incredulously. I couldn't speak around the huge mouthful of cookie so I just plopped down on the blanket. Fang took a cookie too, and lounged on the couch watching Nudge straighten my hair.

"Don't even think about tying me to a chair," I warned.

He grinned evilly and I lunged forward to punch him several times.

"Max!" Nudge said sharply. "Don't move or I'll end up burning your hair."

I gave Fang a _look_ and settled back down in front of Nudge.

This sleepover was off to a pretty fun start.

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><p><strong>Suckish ending, I know. This chapter was a little longer though. Kinda. It's to make up for me not being able to update for a couple days. Seriously. I'm going to my cousin's house at nine tomorrow morning and probably not leaving til noon the next day. And then I'm sleeping over my friend's house the next day. I promise I'll write another loooooong chapter to make up for it.<strong>

**These last few chapters have kinda been filler chapters, so I'll get to writing some drama & Fax soon. :)**

**Maybe I'll start the next chapter on my cousins iPad tomorrow if I get some more reviews. . .? :D**

**Kay I'm out.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	14. I Saw A Spider In The Bathroom

**I'M SO SO SO SORRY THIS CAME SO FREAKING LATE. The document manager was taking to long to upload this, so it just timed out every time I tried to upload it. I tried uploading it about ten times last night but it didn't work.**

**fnickforever-thank you for spotting that. sorry I guess that was a typo. :P It's bothering me now so I might end up fixing it and replacing the chapter. I can be a perfectionist.. sometimes.**

**Fowlmaniac-Sorry bout all the filler chapters :P I have an idea now though, so I'm on a roll and there's gonna be drama and Fax coming up.**

**LovelyMidnightSpark-Inspiration kinda just comes out of nowhere and slaps ya in the face sometimes, y'know? And I'm sorry but, Spoiler Alert; this chapter will have the most Fax so far. I'M SORRY I HAD TO.**

**Question for everyone; when you delete a document off the document manager, does the chapter in your story get deleted too? :P**

**Okay enjoy. And I apologize in advance for rushing the Fax. But I'm getting bored writing it bit by bit and I wanna change it up and make it interesting already. So I'm very very very sorry but I have a couple interesting plot twists coming up so don't get bored and walk away, PLEASE. :)**

**I'm sorry I have the longest A/N's ever.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride.**

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><p>Nudge and I were upstairs in her room, and she was trying to convince me to let her do my makeup. Again.<p>

"I can do a mask for you and it'll make your skin look awesome. And we can put cucumbers on your eyes and everything. And I have moisturizing lotion that we can put on your hands and then I can paint your nails _and_ your toes! And we can take bubble baths for relaxation and put on big fluffy robes and sleep with eye mask thingies."

I rubbed my eyes. She was already exausting me, and it wasn't even ten thirty. "Nudge, no masks, no nail painting, no cucumbers, no bubble baths." I kept my eyes shut so I wouldn't see her Bambi eyes.

"Can we still sleep with eye masks and fluffy robes?" she begged.

I opened my eyes. "Maybe," I said cautiously. Only because fluffy robes were pretty comfy, and eye masks weren't so horrible. I'd probably take it off once Nudge fell asleep though.

"Go take a shower and I'll brush your hair after and put it up for you," Nudge pushed.

I hesitated. "What do you mean, 'put my hair up'?" I demanded suspiciously.

"I'll do whatever you want, like a ponytail or something," Nudge promised with a smile. She tossed a blue bath towel at me and pointed in the direction of the bathroom. "Go ahead and use whatever soaps and stuff you wanna use, then change and come back here."

I shrugged and left her room to find the bathroom. It wasn't hard; it was two doors down from Nudge's room. I went in and tossed the towel on the closed toilet seat and closed the door. As I turned to the side to start the water, I noticed myself in the mirror and straightened up.

Nudge had straightened my hair to perfection, and it hung straight down to my elbows and seemed to glow under the soft lighting of the bathroom. Despite my protests, she'd managed to spray me with some kind of sparkly perfume body mist before I could escape, and now my skin sparkled every time I moved. It was definitely a new look, but I wasn't sure if I completely liked it. I tilted my head and the stranger in the mirror copied the movement exactly. Sure, I guess the girl in the mirror was pretty, but I didn't really think she was _me_.

I shook my head and was about to turn the water on when I realized I'd forgotten my pajamas in Nudge's room. I cursed under my breath and ran out to grab them. I was in such a hurry, I yanked open the door and smashed into Fang again within three steps.

"Woah." He caught and steadied me by my elbows. His strong hands gripped me tightly so I wouldn't topple over.

"Um, hi." That's me, Queen of Awkward Greetings.

"Hi there." Fang's dark eyes flashed with amusement, bringing out golden flecks in his eyes.

I suddenly noticed how close our faces were, and how he smelled like cinnamon from the snickerdoodles. His hands were still on my elbows, holding me tightly so I couldn't escape, even if I'd wanted to.

Did I want to? A flash of confusion and doubt slithered into my thoughts. I mean, Fang was my best friend, and sure, we'd had a couple of awkward moments lately, but we were better off as friends. Best friends. Shoulder to cry on. I-

Every thought in my brain shorted out, because get this, _Fang kissed me._ He took my chin gently in one hand, as if I would break, and tilted my face up, and pressed his lips to mine.

Oh.

My.

God.

Holy crap. Holy crap holy crap holy crap _I was kissing Fang_.

A couple options flashed through my mind, lightning fast. I could (a) pull away and run away screaming, or (b) just go with it.

Option B it is.

Fang's mouth was warm and firm against mine, and he had one arm curled around my waist while the other was still cupping my face. I was completely frozen and rigid, like a plank, with my tightly fisted hands resting against Fang's chest. No matter how much I tried to force my frozen muscles to unclench, I couldn't do it. It was like Medusa had turned me into a living, breathing statue.

After what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was probably about ten seconds, Fang pulled back to look at me. I could feel my expression changing at a million miles a minute, but I couldn't compose myself because let's face it, _I had just kissed my best friend_. Or he'd kissed me. Whatever. I'd kissed him back.

Fang's stare was making me twitchy. He was just standing there staring so deep into my eyes it felt like he was reading my soul or something.

I finally managed to unclench my fists and break out of Fang's hold. Without giving him a second glance, I turned and sprinted into Nudge's room and slammed the door behind me, breathing hard.

"Max?" Nudge was sitting on her bed with her laptop resting on her knees, peering over the top at me in confusion. "You look have that deer-in-the-headlights crossed with just-saw-a-ghost expression on your face. Are you okay?"

I racked my brain for a quick explanation. "I saw this, um, really big spider in the bathroom and it creeped me out. And I need my pajamas." I looked around the room to avoid Nudge's concerned expression. I wasn't afraid of spiders, and she knew it.

"O-kay," she said slowly. "Your bag is over there." She jerked her chin at her desk. Sure enough, my overnight bag was right there, neatly folded pajamas on top. I grabbed them and swiveled around to face Nudge again. She was staring at me with a maybe-she's-lost-it expression on her face. And concern. And sympathy. I hated it when people felt bad for me. It made me feel defenseless, one of my least favorite feelings in the world.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "I was just kind of. . .caught off-guard." Not technically a lie.

"By a spider?" Nudge was so confused she wasn't even speaking in million-word sentences.

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay. . ." Nudge lowered her eyes back to her laptop screen. Her forehead was still creased in confusion. I turned and forced myself to calmly exit her room and shut the door gently behind me. The second the door was closed, I sprinted into the bathroom on my tippy toes.

The warm water in the shower helped calm me down and clear my thoughts. I realized I'd twisted my hands into fists again. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to unbend my fingers, one by one. There were little crescent-moon imprints on my palms from where my nails had been digging into my skin.

_Okay, Max, put on your thinking cap,_ I thought to myself. _What's going on here?_

Lately, there had been a couple awkward moments between Fang and I, but those could've been coincidence. We'd gone on just like regular friends after that. Fang catching me when I'd rocketed out of the bathroom was probably just sheer reflexes. You see someone falling, you try to catch them. But Fang kissing me. . .no, that wasn't a coincidence.

And another fact that couldn't be ignored-Lissa had said that Fang was dumping her for me. Even though I'd refused to accept that at the time, I was starting to think that maybe she wasn't so far off base.

Another thought turned my stomach into an inside-out pretzel. Had Fang said anything to anyone? Maybe he'd talked to Nudge about it and she'd invited me over for Fang. Maybe he'd told Lissa and that was why she was so horrible to me all the time-because she wanted to hold on to Fang. Fang never had really mentioned his motives for dumping Lissa. He'd never actually mentioned dumping Lissa. Lissa had been the one to inform me that Fang had dumped her.

"Ugh," I groaned. Nudge was probably wondering if I'd drowned by now. I shut off the water and wrapped myself up in the towel, trying to hold in the heat from the shower. I quickly changed into my comfy fleece pajamas and shook out my wet hair so it wouldn't drip down my back.

I faced myself in the mirror and glared sternly at my reflection. I took a couple deep breaths to clear my head of the thoughts clouding my brain. "I _will_ have fun at this sleepover and stop stressing about Fang," I told myself strictly. Still gotta work on that talking-to-myself thing. I repeated the statement to myself over and over.

I just had to convince myself to believe it.

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><p>I was having trouble falling asleep.<p>

Nudge had fallen asleep about an hour ago. I was still wide awake, staring at the ceiling and praying to just _please_ fall asleep. I should've been out like a light, because I'd been seriously tired all day. But instead I was awake stressing over Fang again.

I growled to myself and got up to grab my iPod. I clicked to my playlists and chose the playlist labeled _Relaxing Songs_. I used it when I needed to fall asleep, like right now, or when I was upset or angry or needed to focus on doing homework. I put the playlist on shuffle and curled up again under the green fleece blanket Nudge had given me. The sleeping area we'd built was actually really comfortable.

The first song was White Horse by Taylor Swift. I let my eyes flutter closed gratefully as the steady guitar rhythm stared off the song. Within seconds I was asleep.

My dreams were weird. I saw flashes of things, of people and places. The flickering images went by faster, like a slideshow in fast forward. The images traveled at a dizzying speed until finally, it stopped at an image of me leaning up against the deck in my backyard with a canvas resting on my knees as if my legs were an easel. I was painting something on the canvas, something I couldn't see from the angle I was watching the scene from. Finally, my dream self finished the painting and I got a glimpse of it.

It was Fang. Of course. I can't even innocently dream without Fang showing up.

Suddenly, the dream changed. I was running through a forest, being chased by a dark shape that wasn't easily identified. I didn't think the dark blob was supposed to represent Fang, because I wasn't scared of Fang. But in my dream, I was terrified of whatever was chasing me. I ran faster through the trees, branches scraping against my skin like I was Snow White running away from the murderer.

"Max!" A voice intruded on my nightmare, bringing me closer to conciousness. "MAX!"

I awoke with a gasp and bolted upright. My iPod earphones fell out of my ears and the wires were tangled around my wrist. I looked around the dark room, disoriented. Suddenly the light went on and I squinted painfully against it.

Fang was standing next to the lamp. He walked over slowly and sat next to me. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, hoping I was more calm on the outside than I was inside. "I'm fine. Why?"

"You were kicking around and screaming in your sleep," he said seriously. But I could see the hint of a smile on his face.

I punched him. "Bad dream," I offered.

"About?"

"Nosy much?" I muttered. I never shared my dreams. Not even when I was a little kid and went running to my mom because I had a nightmare. Never. To me, it was like telling someone what you wished for at 11:11. Bad luck. Or karma, or something. I just didn't like it.

He elbowed me. "C'mon, just tell me."

I shook my head. "No can do."

"Why not?" he demanded.

I just shrugged. "Bad luck." I glanced over at Nudge and changed the subject. "So Nudge is a heavy sleeper?"

He frowned at my not-so-subtle subject shift, but answered me. "She could sleep through a wrecking ball crashing into her room."

I nodded and was overcome with exaustion. I was swaying and struggling to keep my eyes open and ended up crashing into Fang's shoulder. Too tired to move my head, I just closed my eyes. Fang's shoulder was pretty comfortable.

I felt someone poke my arm. "Max." Fang's voice sounded amused.

I sleepily managed to open my eyes for a half second. "Hmm?"

"You wanna fall asleep on your pillow? I'm pretty sure that's ten times more comfortable."

"Oh. Yeah." I couldn't summon the energy to move.

"Max. You can do it. Your pillow is right there."

"I will in a second," I muttered, closing my eyes again. "Gimme a second to rest."

There was a pause, and Fang gently lifted me off his shoulder and moved me so I was resting on my pillow. Usually I hated when people moved me around and picked me up, but I was too tired to protest. I felt Fang pull the blanket over me and heard him turn the light off.

" 'Night, Max," I heard Fang say quietly.

But it seemed like another dream, because I was already half asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm very sorry about rushing the Fax, but I needed to so I could get to the idea I have. :P<strong>

**Once again I'm sorry this update came really late!**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	15. Max, Meet Brigid

**Ugh I'm sorry I keep updating so late. But the internet is really distracting. But I'm gonna make this longer to make up for it. At least by word count. This chapter is over four thousand words. And I'll work on making the next chapter even longer. **

**About that. What would you prefer? A) Have me take the next couple days to write one big long chapter, or B) Have me write a bunch of short ones and update everyday, several times a day? Your choice :)**

**Oh and by the way. If you haven't noticed yet I've been steering clear of Fang POV so noone knows what Fang is thinking but me ^_^**

**Alright I'll just start.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Maximum Ride.**

* * *

><p>"E-lla!" I shouted through the door. I could hear the panic in my own voice. "Come on! This is stupid. We have to leave in fifteen minutes."<p>

"Well then you better start getting dressed!" Ella cackled. I was seriously panicking now. Ella had snuck into my room and turned off my alarm clock early this morning. Then she'd taken all of my regular, comfortable clothes out of my closet and dresser, and left me with an outfit that was so girly it hurt my eyes. I'd gone to my dresser when I'd woken up this morning, yawning the whole time, only to find completely bare only _me_ clothes I possessed right now were my penguin-print pajama bottoms and stretchy grey sleeping shirt.

Ella had also locked me in here. My room unfortunately locked from the outside, not from the inside. And Ella had taken the key. She was going to be six feet under when I got out of here.

I pounded on the door once again. "_Ella!_"

"Max, the clothes aren't infected with roaches. You'll live! It's just one day."

I glared at the pile of clothes Ella had left me with. She'd given me the white off-the-shoulder shirt that she'd worn on the first day. But what I hadn't noticed before was that it had a bunch of _glittery_ patterns painted on it. Along with that she'd left light ripped skinny jeans and a glittery gold belt. I had no idea what she had in store for me in terms of shoes, but it was probably highly torturous. Like those really complicated strappy sandals that she loves and has a million pairs of. Or heels. I shuddered just thinking about it.

I kicked the door harshly and Ella shrieked. I smiled for the first time this morning.

"Max, hurry up, or I'll tell Fang you looooove him!" Ella threatened.

"I do not!" I insisted. Nobody knew about what had happened on Friday. Only Fang and I. Saturday and Sunday had been pretty uneventful. Saturday night we'd both ended up looking out the window again and we'd made faces at each other until the air conditioning thingy in my room had kicked on and scared me half to death. I'd ended up practically flying (**A/N: I wrote that before I realized the irony.**) back to my bed and cowered under the covers until I realized what it was. But by then I was tired and fell asleep without closing my window or saying bye to Fang.

Ten minutes until we had to leave. And my hair and teeth were still unbrushed, and I was starving. Grumbling to myself, I slid on the clothes without looking in the mirror to spare myself the panic attack.

"I put on your stupid clothes," I spat.

The doorknob turned and Ella stepped in. "Max, you look hot!" Ella gushed. I shot her my most ferocious scowl. "Hmm. I wonder if the cut is going to be a problem." Confused, I looked down at the shirt. It just barely covered my stomach. When I shrugged or raised my hand, the shirt would slide up several inches.

"Ella, no way!" I said, appalled. I wasn't going to walk around school with everyone knowing what my belly button looked like.

"Stop arguing." Ella guided me into my desk chair. Confused again, I watched as she grabbed something I hadn't noticed before from my desk. I realized what it was when she started tying me to the chair. Colored string from her friendship bracelet kit. Classic Ella hostage treatment.

"Ella, what the hell is this?" I plucked at the hot pink string wrapped around my shoulders.

"I'm doing your hair," Ella announced triumphantly. I glanced at the clock. Seven minutes. I started pulling inconspicuously at the string while Ella brushed my hair and started tugging at it. Unfortuantely, I succeeded in escaping just as she finished with my hair.

"I'm a freaking expert at waterfall braids," Ella said happily. (**A/N: If you want to picture what Max's hair looks like just look up waterfall braids on Google Images or something.**) "Makeup time!" She turned away from me for a split second as she reached for her makeup bag, and I was out of there. I sprang off the chair and bolted downstairs into the kitchen. The colorful string was still tangled around my wrists and one shoulder. I shook the irritating threads to the ground and grabbed a couple chocolate chip muffins and a nutrition bar for breakfast. I had finished the nutrition bar already when Ella came stomping downstairs, her face like a storm cloud. I smiled cheerfully at her around a mouthfull of chocolate chip muffins.

"You're wearing these to school today, because I hid all of your other shoes and these are the only shoes I had that'll fit you." Ella dropped something at my feet. I finished my breakfast and crouched down to investigate. Ugh. Ella's Uggs. Hehe. Ugh Uggs.

"These make my feet sweat," I complained.

"No they don't. You're wearing them." She stuffed socks in my hands - my own, for once. Thank God.

"No, I'm not."

"Max, it's either those, or these." She held up a pair of white heels, identical to the ones Lissa always wore, except two inches lower.

I glared at her as I picked up the boots. "You're evil, you know that?"  
>"Yep," Ella chirped. "Better get going. Fang's probably waiting for you." She smirked evilly at me and I barely supressed a shriek or rage. No need to give Ella what she wanted.<p>

I put on my socks and Ella's Uggs and grabbed my backpack. "My sister is dead meat," I sang as I strolled outside and down the porch steps. "My sister is so gonna get it when I get home todaaaaaay! Maybe I'll just ruin her shirt. . ." I continued humming my made-up song as I heard Ella scream from inside the house.

"Max, do _not_ ruin that shirt!" I heard Ella's panicky voice call.

I just jogged across the street until I couldn't hear her anymore. Now that I was thinking about it, there were a million ways to ruin Ella's shirt today. This would be fun.

Fang raised his eyebrows when I sidled up to him. "Who are you and what have you done with Max?"

"Ella stole my clothes and locked me in my room with these," I grumbled as I picked at the glitter on Ella's shirt.

He chuckled. "That girl will stop at nothing."

"You're telling me?" I scowled. "She tied me to a chair with friendship bracelet string while she did this." I patted the 'waterfall braid' that Ella had done.

Fang pretended to cough to hide a smile. I kicked him in the shin, which unfortunately didn't have the desired effect because of the soft Uggs. So I settled for stepping on his foot, putting all of my almost one-hundred-pound weight on his foot.

"You weigh almost nothing," Fang teased as he stood up. I shot him a death glare and stomped down the walkway ahead of him. I hated it when people teased me about my weight. I knew I was underweight for my 5'8 height; I was about one hundred pounds. Again with the high metabolism. And yes, I put on a lot of muscle, but it never drastically increased the number on the scale. I was doomed to being known as 'the toothpick' for the rest of my high school life. I sighed gloomily.

Fang caught up to me easily and took my hand in his, just like that. And we were holding hands. And my automatic reflex _wasn't_ to let go. It actually felt nice. Warm. But it was still enough to make my cheeks heat up, so I looked up at the sky, hoping to hide my red-tinted cheeks.

We walked all the way to school like that. Sure, we still talked and argued like brother and sister, but our fingers were still intwined. And I wasn't nervous about my hand getting sweaty, like I _should_ be. But with Fang this was strangely effortless.

I was, however, relieved when my phone started ringing from my backpack and I had to use both hands to go looking for it. I finally retrieved it a second too late, right after the call went to voicemail. I sighed and clicked on the missed calls log and saw that it was Ella. Seconds later I recieved a text from her.

Ella: _If you ruin my shirt you will buy me a new one. I'll get Mom to back me up_.

(**A/N: I'm sorry, but I hate text talking so I'm just not doing it**.)

I sighed and flipped open my phone to reply.

Max: _Don't dress me up. You bring it on yourself_.

I quickly shut my phone and powered it down before she could text me back and turned back to Fang. We were already in front of our school now, and Fang was staring off into the distance and thinking very hard about something. I felt another flash of confusion, like I had on Friday, but I pushed it away this time.

Fang turned back to me and gave me one of his famous half-smiles. "So what'd Ella want?"

"Psychic much?" I grumbled and Fang chuckled quietly. He got this weird, ultracalm expression on his face as he carefully leaned closer to me. I was suddenly terrified that he was going to kiss me again, in front of all these people. My heart was beating so fast I could practically feel it in every bone in my body. But instead Fang just lifted his hand and swept my now-smooth dark blond hair behind my shoulder. I stared at him with wide, confused eyes.

"It looks better like that," he advised quietly. "Shows off your face." He turned abruptly and walked off calmly, leaving me practically hyperventilating in the middle of the sidewalk.

* * *

><p>I was thinking a little <em>too<em> hard about Fang's words to me before. _Shows off your face_. Did that mean he thought I was pretty and _should_ show off my face? I'd always though I had a face only a mother could love. Maybe I was wrong? Ella always told me she was jealous because my nose and eyes were prettier than hers, but sisters are kinda designed to say that kind of thing. And that was typical for Ella, who was obsessed with beautifying herself with makeup and stuff all the time. I can't even begin to describe how many hair products Ella has. And she keeps them all in the shower. I make a habit of _accidentally_ knocking them down.

I thought about Fang all through homeroom. About him just reaching over and grabbing my hand, about how he knew me all too well, about how he was telling me I looked better when I my hair was 'showing off my face.' And he'd looked at me with this weird _intensity_ before he'd said it. I didn't even know how to decipher it. Fang was just a mystery. A mystery I'd have to leave unsolved at the moment.

"MAAAAAXXXXXXX!"

Who needs coffee to wake you up when you have Nudge screaming in your ear?

I immediately lifted my arm and clapped my hand over my ear, forgetting about the cut of Ella's shirt, and I heard a whistle from behind me. I managed to control the automatic _run and hide_ impulse and turned around to glare at whoever was perverted enough to whistle at me.

My eyes with the whistler's, and I felt like I was lost in my own ocean oasis for a split second. I blinked to clear my head. The guy's eyes were a gorgeous turquoise color that unfortunately, looked cute with his honey-blonde hair. He was grinning at me.

"Whistle one more time and I promise it will be the last time you do," I threatened, and turned away. I enjoyed threatening people way too much.

Nudge was gaping at me like a fish out of water now. "That was Dylan!" Nudge squealed at quietly as she could manage.

"Whatever. He's still a jerk hole."

"But he's so cute!"

"Whatever," I repeated, even though I kind of agreed. But good looks do not make up for a perverted attitude.

Nudge shrugged it off and immediately moved on to her next topic. "Max, you look adorable. I mean seriously. I love when you actually dress like a girl. I feel like I've seen that shirt before. Where'd you get it?"

"Ella," I muttered darkly, and slammed my locker.

"Ooh," Nudge said. "She wore that sometime before, I think. But anyway, Max, you're such an Uggs person. I mean the shirt is adorable and everything and even Dylan thought so. Trust me, that counts for something. Even though the cut is a little, y'know, showy, you still look hotter than any other girl in this school, especially Lissa."

"Whatever you say, Nudge," I sighed. I didn't like talking about how I looked right now. If one more person said I looked hot I might have to tear their head off. The only reason I hadn't for Nudge and Ella was because they were programmed to say stuff like that to their best friend. It was in their nature. They couldn't help complimenting people.

Homeroom seemed far too fast. Usually it dragged by; it always seemed like my homeroom teacher took forever just to check one name off on her list. But today it was like he whipped through the attendance list. The person on the announcements seemed to talk faster than usual, and was it just me or did the bell ring a minute too soon? It seemed like everything was in fast forward when all I really wanted to do was rewind.

I dragged my feet as I walked to social studies. If I was truly admitting it to myself, I didn't really want to see Fang. But at the same time I was so anxious to see him I almost fell over.

If this is what crushing on someone feels like, it sucks.

* * *

><p>Lucky for me, Fang was late to social studies so we didn't get to talk to each other at all before class. Usually we talked before the bell rang.<p>

"ATTENTION!" the devil barked from the front of the classroom. She was clutching a stack of papers and glaring at us over the top of her glasses. "QUIEEEEET!" The class fell silent. I'll laugh when that old lady loses her voice one day.

"Class," Mrs. Jenner said. "Today we'll have a pop quiz on what we've been studying for the past few weeks. Hopefully you're prepared." Complaints started up all at once.

"No fair, I couldn't study because of hockey practice!"

"Isn't this illegal or something?"

"If I fail I'm switching schools."

"I'LL SEPARATE YOU NOW," Mrs. Jenner yelled, raising her voice over everyone else's. She started rearranging kids so that no one had an oppurtunity to cheat. I tapped my pencil against the desk impatiently. Mrs. Jenner was taking forever.

"Nicholas, to the table in the front of the room," Mrs. Jenner ordered. Fang's arm brushed my fluttery sleeve when he passed and I felt a blush warm my face. I really hoped no one noticed. This would be ten times more confusing if there was a rumor going around about Fang and I.

During the quiz I started getting restless and distracted and I struggled to keep myself focused on my quiz. I finally peeked up for a split second and saw Fang looking at me. I ignored the warmth in my cheeks and gave him a what-do-you-want face. He just shrugged and gave me one of his trademark Fang grins. The kind that he almost never does, but when he actually does his little smile it lights up the immediate area. I smiled back and lowered my face back to my quiz.

Sure, like I could focus now.

* * *

><p>"So, did you fail the quiz?"<p>

I looked up at Fang as he sat down on the black stool next to me. "Probably," I said, trying to keep my heart from accelarating. "Did you?"

He shrugged and smiled softly. "Dunno. I'm always prepared."

"Nerd." I scooted off my chair to avoid Fang's fist. We knew each other too well; we could practically read each other's minds.

I sat back down on my stool and kept mindlessly sketching on a scrap of paper. Another free sketch class. "I think your macho fighting skills are slipping," I teased. "I mean, I can dodge you."

"You can dodge anyone," Fang pointed out as he pulled a piece of paper from his binder and grabbed a pencil.

"Maybe," I allowed.

"Nudge told me you almost ripped Dylan's head off before homeroom this morning," Fang said suddenly. I was so startled I stopped drawing for a second and almost dropped my pencil.

"When did she tell you that?" I asked. I tried to force my voice to stay calm and turned back to my sketching.

"In homeroom."

"Oh."

"So what happened?" he pressed.

I sighed and set my pencil down. "Nothing."

"Max, you can't lie to me, I know you better than the back of my hand."

I clenched my jaw stubbornly. "Ask Nudge."

"Nudge talks too much," he complained.

"Which is exactly why it's better for you to get your story from her. I'm not a huge talker." Before he could push the subject further, I got up to sharpen my pencil. When I returned to my seat I changed the subject right away.

"My mom wants to take us all to get ice cream tonight," I informed him as I sat back down and shaded in the outline of a rising sun on my paper. Random, but true. My mom had mentioned it last night.

"That's nice of her."

"Mhm." I was glad my voice sounded distracted and distant. Maybe then he'd stop grilling me for details about the Dylan thing.

The rest of the class passed in a blur of drawing and pointless conversation. When the bell rang, I started grabbing my stuff, but Fang just stood at his seat, watching me as if he was thinking very hard about something.

"What?" I demanded. "Is there something on my face?"

He smiled faintly. "No." He stepped closer to me and lowered his voice so only I could hear him. "Just remember, Max, you can tell me _anything_. I'm here for you." He brushed my hair off my shoulder again and gave my hand a quick squeeze before walking off, leaving me with way too many feelings and thoughts.

* * *

><p>Turns out there was a new girl today. A new girl that Fang met in math class.<p>

So of course the new girl was sitting with us at lunch. She had long red hair, like Lissa, which immediately put me on edge - _like Lissa_ wasn't a compliment. She _seemed_ nice enough - she wasn't as loud and obnoxious as Lissa was though. She didn't dress like Lissa either.

Nudge and I had entered the cafeteria like always, with her tugging my arm and dragging me through the crowd on the lunch line. The second she saw a new face at our lunch table, she started hauling me faster so that she could greet the new girl right away. That was just Nudge; if she saw a new face, she'd be the first to say hi.

"ZOMG HEY!" Nudge squealed when she reached the table. "I'm Nudge. This is - "

"Max," I said, taking my regular spot between Nudge and Fang.

The new girl smiled slightly. "Hi, Nudge, Max."

"Our names seem kinda weird, like Fang and Iggy and Gazzy, but they're just nicknames. I love Max's name. I think it's cool. It's short for Maximum, isn't that awesome? My real name is Monique. And Iggy's real name is Jeff and Fang is really Nick and Gazzy is really Zephyr and J.J. is really Jennifer Joy, but we all like nicknames better. Do you have a nickname?"

The girl looked absolutely blown away. "Uh, no," she said hesitantly. "My name is Brigid."

"That's still a nice name. Do you want a nickname?" Nudge was practically bouncing.

"That's okay." Brigid smiled kindly at Nudge, who shrugged and sat down.

I elbowed her lightly. "Nudge, tone down the talking a little. You're gonna scare the poor girl away."

"Oops! Sorry! I always - " I shoved a cookie in Nudge's face to stop her word vomit before it could start.

"Have some food and breathe," Carolyn teased. Nudge frowned but chewed the cookie without comment.

"So where did you move from?" I asked Brigid. Oh, ugh. I hated making small talk. My voice sounded different. At least it did to me. I hated talking about pointless stuff. Unless it was with Fang. We always argued over pointless crap that didn't really matter.

"New Jersey," Brigid said sadly. (**A/N: And no people from New Jersey aren't all Jersey Shore stereotypes. -_- **)

I nodded sympathetically. "I just moved here from Montana, so I understand what it's like to move away from all your friends."

Brigid's eyes widened. "You came all the way from Montana? That must be hard."

I nodded again. "Yeah."

The silence at the table wasn't awkward for long, because Gazzy decided to break the silence and let one rip.

"Eew!" Tess complained.

"Does anyone have Febreeze?" I gasped. The air was totally unbreathable and people from other tables were starting to take notice and wave their hands in front of their noses.

"I wish," Iggy choked out.

I lifted my shirt over my nose again, momentarily forgetting about the issue with the shirt. Fang poked my stomach to remind me and I carefully yanked my-_Ella's_ shirt back down while still keeping one hand over my nose.

"That's nasty," Fang commented, shaking his head at Gazzy.

"Seriously, people are eating!" Nudge quipped.

"And breathing!" I added.

Gazzy shrugged and grinned. "Sorry."

I turned to Brigid. "Sorry. You must think we're freaks."

Brigid smiled. "Actually, it's refreshing. You're not afraid to be yourselves."

"Even if Gazzy 'being himself' means we all need gas masks," Iggy muttered, poking at his food.

"Shut up and eat your corn bread," Gazzy said as he shoved a cube of yellow bread at Iggy.

Fang smiled apologetically at Brigid. "Sorry again about Iggy's sarcasm and Gazzy's. . .digestive issue."

Brigid beamed back at him. "No problem."

There was something about the way that they smiled at each other that made my stomach twist weirdly.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry that last line is kinda exactly like The Final Warning. But without the hint at that the story doesn't move along, so yeah. This chapter isn't all just meaningless fluff.<strong>

**I ask once again to remind you. Should I take several days to write one big long chapter, or write several short chapters everyday? PM me or write it in a review or _something_ and let me know. Because I dunno how I should keep writing this.**

**kay peace out.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	16. Run And Hide, Pronto

**I am like, floating with the clouds. I have over one hundred reviews on this story. LIKE THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.**

**Kay but I'm getting mixed opinions on the short/long chapter thing, so I'll probably just do a bunch of short chapters and a long one every few days. :)**

**VivaLaKatee-Haha Brigid won't be around for long, if I decide to be generous .. :D Haha no just kidding but I hate Brigid just as much as you and I'm gonna take her outta the picture as soon as I get to the idea I've been working on for a little while. :)**

**fnickforever-I've thought about doing more of all the sports that Max does, so now that you reminded me I'll add more of it in. :)**

**aberlasters-Hehe thank you! :) And I stole the 'word vomit' thing from Mean Girls. I've watched that movie about ten times and it gets funnier every time. :)**

****There were a couple typos in this chapter and that REALLY bothered me, so I replaced it. Sorry if you thought it was another update! :P ****

**Disclaimer-I don't own Maximum Ride yada yada yada :P**

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><p>I just might make it official.<p>

I liked Fang. As more than a friend. It was simple; we were always on the same wavelength, as if someone had synced our brains when we were born. I could tell him anything, literally anything. I was more comfortable with him than any other person on the planet, including my family. He understood me in a way no one else could. He wouldn't pester me about clothes and makeup like Nudge and Ella would, because he was a guy and he couldn't care less.

It was so easy with him.

I'd had to stay after school today, to make up a test I missed while I was out of school. Fang had promised to hide out and wait for me when I finished. We were gonna meet at his locker and walk home as we always did.

I burst out of my math classroom with a huge smile on my face. "Freedommmm!" I yelled, throwing my arms over my head. I'd always wanted to do that after class, but there were always way too many people around. I speed walked to my locker and dumped all my stuff into my backpack before hastily zipping it up and jogging down the hall to Fang's locker.

The halls were just so _silent_ without hundreds of kids taking up the space. It made me feel uneasy, and I quickened my pace, even though the sound of my own footsteps unnerved me. It wasn't until after that I realized it might've been a 'sixth sense' talking.

I finally rounded the corner and saw Fang. And he wasn't alone. Brigid was there too. She was leaning up against the row of lockers, somehow still managing to stand very close to Fang. She was smiling flirtily at him in a way that made me wanna rip off Lissa's heels and shove them up Brigid's nose.

So I was completely taken by surprise when Brigid suddenly hooked one arm around Fang's neck and kissed him, just like that.

I took a step back as if she'd slapped me. In a metaphorical sense, she had.

I expected Fang to jump away and punch Brigid's face in, but instead he wrapped one arm around her waist. Exactly like when he'd kissed me.

The warrior girl in me wanted to twist Brigid's arms out of their sockets and stomp past Fang and go straight home.

The softer part of me wanted to sit outside during a rainstorm and cry.

I was so shocked and hurt that I backed away several steps before spinning around and sprinting away. I didn't know where I was going, I just needed to get away from there. I took several loops around the school at high speed, somehow managing to instinctively avoid the hallway Fang's locker was in. I finally ended up by the gym. I leaned up against the wall and let myself slide to the floor. I was barely breathing hard from my run around the school. It was calming to just get out and move. It helped me clear my head.

_Calm down, Max,_ I chanted to myself. _You'll survive. It's just the drama that comes with high school. Deep, calming breaths._ That last bit was stolen from my mom's old yoga tapes. But hey, it worked.

Maybe there really wasn't anything going on between Fang and I. I mean, we were teenagers, for crying out loud. Love comes and goes, all that stuff. After all, wasn't everything so much simpler when we were just friends? I'd spent many sleepless nights staring at the ceiling wondering what Fang could possibly be thinking. I should probably thank Brigid for clearing up my Fang confusion. Even though I was still shell-shocked and hurt, I could clearly see now that we were better as friends.

I looked up in alarm as the gym door opened, a couple feet away. And as if my day couldn't get any worse, Dylan stepped out of the gym, bouncing a basketball on the linoleum floor tiles. Unfortunately, his deep turquoise eyes went straight to me.

"Max?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"Uh, hi?" That's me. The conversation starter.

"What are you doing here?" Way to ask a stupid question.

"Sitting. Why, what are you doing?"

"I was just practicing with my basketball coach in the gym. I always practice at least once a week," he explained.

"Cool." It was obvious I didn't really care, nor did I think it was 'cool'.

He sat down next to me and placed the basketball on the floor next to him. "You look kinda upset."

Despite my irritation at him, a bubble of laughter escaped my lips. "Is it that obvious?"

"You can tell me. I'm a good listener." I turned and almost got lost in his eyes again. The perverted jock who'd whistled at me in the hallway earlier was gone. Way gone. Replaced by this open-minded 'good listener'. It was a nice change. A really nice change.

I twirled a loose strand of hair around my finger. "It's not really something I want to talk about."

He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I respect that. Do you need cheering up?"

"Maybe," I admitted. Who knows? Maybe Dylan was actually funny.

"So let's change the subject," he suggested. "What's your favorite animal?"

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. "A duck."

He looked confused. "Why?"

"Ducks are actually pretty cute. And they're sadly underrated. I think that the ones that have colorful feathers are really pretty."

He smiled slowly. "Touche."

I felt my phone vibrate against my foot. I'd been hiding my phone in Ella's Ugg since this morning when she'd texted me. I flipped it open to read the text on the screen.

Fang: _Where are you?_

I stiffened but forced myself to text back.

Max: _The gym. They have gymnastics mats and I wanted to practice for a bit. You don't have to wait up_

Fang: _I'll wait._

I gritted my teeth. Oh, so now he was playing nice guy and waiting up for me? But then again, he was probably passing the time with Brigid.

Max: _K._

Hopefully Fang got the subtle hint that I was kinda pissed. Most guys know that when a girl replies 'k', she's not happy. (**A/N: VERY. TRUE.** **Just sayin'.**) For once, maybe, he'd take the hint.

"Who was that?" Dylan asked as I stuffed my phone back in Ella's Ugg. I looked up to see that his expression wasn't suspicious like most people would've been. His eyes were filled with mild curiousity. Another change.

"A friend," I said shortly.

"Do you not want to talk about said friend right now?"

I hesitated before replying. "Not. . .really. Just distract me again."

"Okay." He shrugged. "Do you play sports?"

My lips curled into a smile. "Yes. Gymnastics, volleyball, swimming, and soccer."

"Woah!" Dylan actually looked surprised. "What's your favorite?"

"Hard to choose." I shrugged and glanced at the gym door. "Do they have gymnastics mats in there?"

"Sure, there are whole stacks of them. Wanna try them out?"

"Please." I hopped up eagerly and followed Dylan into the spacious gym. I helped him grab a mat from the top of the lowest stack and spread it out over the floor. I realized that now I wasn't technically lying to Fang in my text, and I was kinda disappointed about that. I felt like I had to just get. . ._revenge_ on him somehow. He'd muddled up thoughts more than they needed to be. Now I was so hurt and confused and I didn't know what to do. For all I knew, Fang flirted with the new girls and kissed them before confusing them and telling them they looked better with their hair behind their shoulders.

"Stupid Fang," I hissed under my breath. It felt better to get it out.

"What?" Dylan looked startled.

"Nothing. Thinking out loud." I kicked off Ella's Uggs and stretched as much as I could in skinny jeans and the shirt I was in. Sometimes not stretching before doing roundoffs and such could be pretty bad afterwords. For one, you'd be really sore. I'd learned that the hard way.

"What do you want me to show you?" I asked Dylan, stretching my toes anxiously.

"Uh, a cartwheel," Dylan muttered. Guessing he didn't really know much about gymnastics.

I settled into a lunge before stepping forward and planting one hand firmly on the ground while I swung around and landed easily on my feet. I could almost hear Kelly saying _Perfect form, Max,_ in my head. I grinned hugely. Luckily my shirt hadn't slid up to reveal more than a couple inches of my stomach. I still tugged it down as quickly as I could.

"That was too easy," I complained as I turned back to Dylan.

"Do a backflip or something," he suggested.

I perked up. "How 'bout a back handspring?"

"I have no idea what that is. Show me." He smiled so genuinely that I just had to smile back.

"First I'll just do the back handspring, then I'll show you a cartwheel-roundoff-back handspring," I explained.

"Uh, okay." Dylan looked bewildered. I almost laughed. Almost.

I stood still for a couple seconds before crouching and launching myself backwards. I pushed easily off my hands when my palms finally connected with the mat, and landed neatly on my feet. With out hesitating or looking at Dylan, I executed another perfect cartwheel, followed by a perfect roundoff and ending with another, equally perfect back handspring. I landed with a huge smile on my face. I missed gymnastics so much.

"That was amazing!" Dylan shouted.

I beamed happily at him. "Thanks."

I was sliding on Ella's Uggs again when I saw my phone light up with a call. Who, you may ask? Fang. Duh. I sighed and hit TALK.

"Hello?"

"Max. You still in the gym?" Fang's voice sounded odd over the phone.

I scratched my leg. "Yeah. Why?"

"My mom just called and said she needs me home. I'm babysitting for Gazzy's little sister tonight and I have to be there in an hour. So I kinda have to leave now," he said, sounding kinda apologetic.

"Oh. Okay. Do you want me to walk with you?"

"Duh." I heard him sigh and tried not to roll my eyes. "Meet me at my locker, 'kay?"

"Yeah. See ya." I snapped my phone shut before he could reply.

"The friend again?" Dylan asked.

"Yes," I said bitterly. "Do you need help folding this up?"

"Nah, I got it," he said with a wave of his hand. "I always fold up the mats in here after school."

"Oh, well, thanks." I stood there awkwardly for a second. "Thanks for cheering me up. I feel better now." Not really a lie.

"No problem. If you ever need to talk about stuff, I'm your guy." He turned away and started folding up the mat.

"Thanks," I said one last time before retreating out of the gym and grabbing my backpack. Being friendly with Dylan was probably a mistake, but hey, it would work to maybe subtly get back at Fang. I grinned at the thought.

I expected to see Brigid practically Velcroed to Fang's elbow when I got to his locker, but that wasn't the case. Brigid was nowhere to be found. Fang was the only other person here, leaning up against his locker like he was posing for a portrait.

"Hey," he said when I walked up.

I resisted the urge to growl at him and said hey back.

"So I was thinking," he said as we started walking the familiar path home. "Do you wanna come help babysit Gazzy's little sister with me tonight? Her name is Ariel, but everyone calls her Angel. When you meet her it'll be pretty obvious why. You'll love her."

I would love to say something like 'why can't Brigid help you?', but then he'd know I saw him kissing Brigid. So I took a safer approach.

"Sure," I agreed. Mostly just for Gazzy's little sister. There was something about Fang's face when he described Angel; his expression softened, almost like just thinking about the little girl made him happier.

"Be ready by five, 'kay? I'll call you five minutes before I leave."

I nodded in silent agreement. It was fun to be the silent I'm-hiding-something-from-you type.

Fang picked up my vibe. "Is everything okay?" he asked, sounding really worried. "You've having a kinda, I dunno, _off_ day. You've seemed so distracted all day. Is something wrong? You know you can tell me." I'd put some distance between us as we walked, balancing on the extreme edge of the cement. Fang hooked his elbow through mine and closed the distance between us. I quickly slid my arm out of his and ran my hand through my hair to make the motion seem casual.

"Everything's fine," I said unconvincingly.

"Liar."

I looked up into Fang's dark eyes and forced myself to not spill my guts. "I'm fine, okay?"

"Max, I know you're not." He grabbed my hand and pulled me to a stop, forcing me to look at him. "You can't lie to me. I know something's up, so you might as well tell me."

I wondered if there was any way to casually squirm my hand out of his without being too obvious about it. Unfortunately, no. I just stared stubbornly at Fang and raised my chin defiantly. I didn't have to tell him squat.

"Max." He was starting to sound annoyed.

"What." I was glad my voice sounded the same way.

"Just tell me."

"I don't want to talk about it." I pushed my lower lip out and pouted at him, something I rarely did. Only when I wanted something. And right now, I wanted him to quit bugging me about this.

He sighed heavily. "Whatever you say." For the third time that day, he swept my hair behind my shoulder. This time his fingers brushed my shoulder and I felt an electric tingle spread throughout my arm. I tried to keep my expression neutral and resumed walking. Fang did too, but he didn't let go of my hand. Even though I was mad that he was kissing Brigid one minute and holding my hand the next, his hand still felt comfortable and warm in mine.

When we reached my house, I let go of Fang's hand, folded my arms over my chest, and turned to face him, raising my eyebrows slightly. He had that distracted look again. He met my eyes and I could see a hint of amusement and also concentration in his expression. He carefully leaned forward and kissed my forehead, just like that. He hesitated for a split second before pulling away, and I could feel his warm breath on my forehead. When he did pull away to look at me, I must've looked pretty dang surprised and confused, because there was that flicker of amusement in his eyes again.

"See you at five." He gave me a quick smile and jogged across the street to his house. I forced myself to calmly turn around and walk back inside. When I was safely inside and upstairs in my room, I threw myself down on my bed and sobbed my heart out.

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><p><strong>Bleh. Sorry this took a little while to get up.<strong>

**And I'm sorry that last bit makes Max seem kinda weak, but she can't be strong all the time. And some of this chapter is a lot like the books, but it's gonna end up different. *cue dramatic and suspenseful music***

**I'm working on getting a couple more short chapters up tomorrow.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	17. I Like Hot Pockets

**I'M SORRY, OKAY? SORRYSORRYSORRY. But what fun would this story be if Max wasn't irritated at Fang once in a while?**

**But you guys didn't **_**honestly**_** believe I'd let the Fax die, right? [insert sighs of relief here] 'kay good. :)**

**And basically to everyone that reviewed - I HATE BRIGID TOO. You think she's in this for my amusement? Nooooo. SO ONCE AGAIN I AM SORRY.**

**I PROMISE I'LL TRY AND CLEAR STUFF UP THIS CHAPTER. Because believe me, the whole time I was typing the Fang/Brigid thing, I was gritting my teeth so hard they almost fell out of my head. Seriously.**

**Oh and I'm sorry this is one of the shortest chapters I've ever written.**

**Disclaimer: No I don't own Maximum Ride. Silly goose.**

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><p>So after I'd finished my sob session, I was a mess. My tears were sticky from my salty tears and my eyes were red and I honestly felt like crap.<p>

I got up and ran to my drawers, yanking them open to find my clothes safely returned. I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God. I'd never be able to face Fang again in some kind of Ella-designed getup.

I took a second in the bathroom to clean myself up and give myself a pep talk (so pathetic, I know). At least Ella didn't come in. After that I changed into my most comfortable pair of jeans and an equally comfortable hoodie, I was pretty much ready to go and had nothing to do. Having nothing to concentrate on wasn't the best; my mind kept wandering back to Brigid and Fang. I sighed in irritation and glared at myself in the mirror on the wall across from me. Oh ugh. I still had Ella's stupid braid in my hair. I ripped out the hair tie and combed my fingers through my hair until the braid was gone, except for a few strands of wavy hair framing my face.

"MAAAAX!" Ella shouted from downstairs.

I groaned and walked warily to the top of the stairs. Ella was at the bottom, holding the house phone in her hand. "What?"

"Mom is getting takeout for dinner. What do you want?"

"Oh, I actually have something to do tonight, so I'll probably grab something while I'm out," I said uncertainly.

Ella raised her eyebrows but relayed the message to Mom over the phone and ended the call. She eyed me suspiciously. "What is it that you're doing tonight?"

"Babysitting." I turned abruptly and went back to my room before she could question me further.

* * *

><p>"MAX! FANG'S HERE!"<p>

I glanced at the digital clock on my desk. Exactly 5:00. Damn it. I was hoping I could torture him endlessly if he was late.

I sighed and reluctantly went downstairs, where Fang was waiting at the front door. Ella was standing next to him. Uh oh. Ella was giving me her trademark Evil smile. She was up to something. Oh God, what was she up to?

"Ready?" Fang asked me. I forced myself not to scowl and nodded, walking outside ahead of him.

"So how're we getting there?" I asked without turning around.

"Walking," he replied, easily keeping pace with me.

"Gazzy lives around here?"

"Yeah. Just a couple streets over. Not very far."

I shrugged and an awkward silence hovered between us as we walked.

"Are you _sure_ you don't wanna talk about it?" Fang said out of the blue.

I shot him an unreadable look. "Yes."

"It's just that. . .you seem so unhappy."

I shrugged again. "That's life."

"Is it really so bad that you can't tell me?"

"It's not _bad_," I contradicted. Okay, yes, it was. I-wanna-rip-my-hair-out-and-tie-you-to-the-ceiling-by-your-toes bad. "It's just I don't feel like talking about it right now. Forgive and forget, y'know?" HA. As if. I'd be spending the next three weeks getting revenge on him.

"Max? _Forgiving_ someone? Seriously, what happened."

"I like ducks," I said suddenly, fondly recalling my conversation with Dylan.

Fang was totally confused now. Yusssss. "Huh?"

"I like ducks," I repeated.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"What's your favorite animal?" I continued. Okay, this was way too fun. Seriously. Fang looked so confused it wasn't even funny. No, just kidding, it was funny. Hilarious, in fact. Why am I not on the ground laughing right now? I should be. My lips twitched, struggling to hold back my laughter.

"I don't have one," Fang replied, scrutinizing my face.

"I like Hot Pockets," I said randomly. Oh jeez, where'd that come from? It was all too much. Fang's what-the-hell look, the random Hot Pockets statement, everything. I burst out laughing, doubling over and holding my stomach. Tears streamed from my eyes and I didn't try to stop them. Forgetting my grudge against Fang for a moment, I leaned against him so I wouldn't fall over. Yes, folks, I was laughing that hard.

When I finally stopped laughing and wiped the tears off my eyes, my stomach was hurting like hell. I looked up at Fang to see his maybe-she's-lost-it expression, which of course made me crack up all over again.

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><p><strong>Heh heh no Brigid in this chapter. Even though it's like mega short. I'll have another one up by tonight, promise. If I don't I give you permission to yell at me or remind me or something. {please don't yell at me}<strong>

**Mmk I'm gonna go now.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	18. Too Late To Catch Me Now

**Sososo sorry for not updating sooner. Yesterday I was out at the mall and by the time I got home my keyboard & mouse were gone. So I went and asked my dad where they were;  
>Me: Dad where's my computer stuff?<br>Dad: Hiding.  
>Me: Hiding where?<br>Dad: Somewhere.  
>Me: Why?<br>Dad: You spend all your time just sitting on that computer.  
>Me: I do not.<br>Dad: You do.  
>Me: I sit on the chair.<br>Let's just say he wasn't too pleased with that response and I just got my keyboard and mouse and stuff back today.**

**Okay so the last chapter was mega short so I'm making this longer.**

**And I'm trying to shorten my notes. :P**

**Disclaimer: I have never owned Maximum Ride and never will.**

* * *

><p>Fang was right. Angel was. . .well, an angel. She had a halo of adorable blond curls that bounced whenever she took a step. Her innocent blue eyes exactly matched the color of the sky. Her whole face in general reminded me of one of those baby angels. What are they called? Something with a C. Wait - a cherub. That's it.<p>

Gazzy wasn't here - he had soccer practice. Oh well. Guess it would just be awkward with Fang all night. Sigh. I'd been kinda avoiding him most of the night, but I wasn't sure if he'd noticed yet. Right now he was in the kitchen, on the phone with Angel's mom, trying to figure out how to work the toaster oven. I was curled up with Angel, watching _Despicable Me_ with her. The one with the cute little yellow dudes.

We both looked up when Fang came back in the room a couple minutes later. "Angel, I'm making chicken nuggets for you," he reported.

Angel perked up. "Yay! Thanks Fang." She crawled onto my lap and patted the empty spot next to me. "Come watch with us!" Hopefully she could sense my disapproving look.

Fang silently came over and sat next to me. I could feel the heat of his arm against mine, and my face instantly heated up and I scowled at the same time.

"I ordered Chinese takeout for us," he said in a low voice. I tried not to shiver as I felt his warm breath against my ear.

"Cool. You remembered to get rice?"

He gave me that half-smile that used to send butterflies crazy in my stomach. Truth be told, it still kind of did. "Yeah."

Angel suddenly reached over and turned off the movie. "I'm bored of this," she declared. "Let's do something fun. How about kareoke?"

Okay, I may love singing, but I was _not_ going to sing along to some kind of cheap kareoke version to some random song. No way. I'd given in at my sister's birthday party last year and sang kareoke, but the kareoke microphone made me sound awful and I'd ended up turning off the music and singing a cappella. Which was really nerve-wracking. I mean, singing with no music to back you up? Once again, nerve-wracking.

"Max is a good singer," Fang said suddenly.

I was so shocked, I just blurted, "What?"

He gave me another half-smile. "You always get your guitar and sing when I'm doing homework. Even though it annoys me, you're still an amazing singer."

"But I can't do kareoke!" I insisted. I tried not to look at Angel because she'd give me Bambi eyes.

"My mom used to play guitar!" Angel chirped. "She still has her guitar in her room. I'll go get it for you!" The little girl hopped up and sprinted upstairs.

"That girl has tons of energy," I muttered. Fang chuckled and I shot him a dirty look, but didn't comment because Angel was back downstairs with her mom's guitar. It looked kinda like mine, actually.

"Here you go," Angel chirped, handing me the guitar.

"Thanks?" I replied uncertainly. "Are you sure your mom won't mind this?"

"Oh, she won't care," Angel said dismissively. "She was talking about throwing it out last week."

I turned my attention to the guitar and strummed a few notes. Awesome. It was, surprisingly, in perfect condition - perfectly tuned. "What do you want me to sing?" I asked Angel.

"Anything." Angel tugged on Fang's sleeve and got him to sit on the floor in front of the love seat with her. I smiled and started playing the first few notes of White Horse by Taylor Swift.

_Say you're sorry  
>That face of an angel comes out<br>Just when you need it to  
>As I pace back and forth all this time<br>'Cause I honestly believed in you  
><em>_Holding on, the days drag on  
><em>_Stupid girl, I should've known, I should've known_

_That I'm not a princess  
>This ain't a fairytale<br>I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet  
>Lead her up the stairwell<br>This ain't Hollywood  
><em>_This is a small town  
>I was a dreamer before you went and let me down<br>Now it's too late for you and your white horse  
>To come around<em>

As I strummed out the instrumental break, I met Fang's eyes. He looked confused and suspicious. Hopefully he got that this song was a hint at what had been bothering me all day.

_Maybe I was naive  
>Got lost in your eyes<br>And never really had a chance  
>My mistake, I didn't know to be in love<br>You had to fight to have the upper hand  
>I had so many dreams about you and me<br>Happy endings  
>Now I know<em>

_That I'm not a princess  
>This ain't a fairytale<br>I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet  
>Lead her up the stairwell<br>This ain't Hollywood  
><em>This is a small town<br>I was a dreamer before you went and let me down  
>Now it's too late for you and your white horse<br>To come around__

I met Fang's eyes and smiled bitterly as I continued playing. I barely even took time to catalogue his expression before I turned to Angel and smiled genuinely. The little girl was watching me and listening as if I was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen. I blushed and continued singing.

_And there you are on your knees  
>Begging for forgiveness<br>Begging for me  
>Just like I always wanted<br>But I'm so sorry_

_Cause I'm not your princess  
>This ain't our fairytale<br>I'm gonna find someone someday  
>Who might actually treat me well<br>This is a big world  
>That was a small town<br>There in my rearview mirror  
>Disappearing now<br>And it's too late for you and your white horse  
>To catch me now<br>Oh, woah woah woah, oh  
>Try and catch me now<br>Oh  
>It's too late<br>To catch me now_

I let my fingers rest on the strings, even after I'd finished the song. Angel immediately started clapping and squealing happily.

"Max, you are amazing!" she cheered. "Play me something else."

I met Fang's eyes one last time before I started a new song. And what did I see in his eyes? Understanding. Comprehension.

So he finally knew. Great. I'd deal with that later.

* * *

><p>After dinner, it was late, so we had to get Angel to bed. Gazzy still wasn't home, but he called to say that he was over a soccer friend's house and his friend's mom would drive him home later.<p>

So here we were, sitting across the table from each other, arms crossed, staring each other down. This stare down had already gone on for five minutes, and neither of us showed signs of tiring out anytime soon.

"I know what you're upset about," Fang finally said, three full minutes later.

"Give the boy a prize," I said emotionlessly.

"Max, why couldn't you just tell me?"

"No, I think the better question is why didn't _you_ tell _me_. I though we didn't keep stuff from each other."

"You kept this from me."

"Revenge. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."

He finally broke his statue-still pose and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, alright?"

I'm pretty sure that my eyebrows had jumped halfway off my head. "What?" I asked, my lips curling into a smile.

"I'm sorry."

"One more time."

"Max." Fang looked frustrated now. "Be serious. Do you want to deal with this or not?"

"Not. I'd rather just let things be." I got up from the table so I'd seem taller than him, because he was still sitting down. I folded my arms and looked down at him condescendingly. Unfortunately, my moment as the Tall One didn't last long, because Fang stood up too and took a big step closer to me.

Too close. I backed up a step.

Fang retaliated by closing the distance with another step.

I stepped back.

He stepped forward.

I stepped back.

And felt the wall against my back. Ah, crap. He had me trapped. I'm pretty sure I looked like a deer caught in the headlights by now. Fang placed his hands against the wall on either side of me, effectively trapping me further. I flattened myself against the wall as much as I could, struggling to put as much distance between us as possible. It was no use. No matter how hard I tried to back away from him, we were still only about four inches apart.

Fang's dark, intense eyes gazed deeply into mine. One line from White Horse was running over and over in my mind - _got lost in your eyes and never really had a chance_. I shook my head the tiniest bit to clear it.

"Max, I don't like Brigid," he whispered.

"Could've fooled me," I snarled.

His mouth quirked up slightly on one side. Damn that stupid adorable half smile. "I didn't kiss her."

"I saw you. You're lying."

"No, I'm not. Brigid is the one that kissed me."

"You kissed back."

He didn't reply.

"This is the part where you say 'guilty as charged' and get down on your knees and beg for my forgiveness," I hinted.

He just smirked a little and leaned in even closer. Our faces were about two inches apart now, but what I was thinking about was how close our lips were. Only this time, I didn't want him to kiss me. When he leaned in even closer, I squidged my eyes shut and pressed my head even closer to the wall.

"Don't," I muttered. I opened my eyes a crack to see him still smiling slightly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because. . .my thoughts are already a stupid jumbled mess, and it would only mess up my head further."

"Allow me to clear your head and explain."

I waited in stubborn silence.

"I don't like Brigid. Believe me, I don't."

Q: Was it possible for him to lean in even closer?

A: Yes.

"I don't believe you. Believe me, I don't," I mimicked, trying to focus through my confusion.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love leaving Fang speechless? If I haven't, allow me.

I LOVE LEAVING FANG SPEECHLESS.

I smirked as an escape occured to me, and it was so freaking obvious I wondered why I hadn't thought of it five minutes ago. I simply slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor and crawled away.

Jeez, Max, you're real bright, aren't you?

I crawled over to the couch and climbed up like I was a dog or something. I drew my legs to my chest and wrapped my arms around my knees tightly as I watched Fang slowly cross the room to me. He was (for the most part) expressionless, but his eyes seemed sad. He sat next to me on the couch, and we just sat there for a while, completely silent. It was seven whole minutes before he spoke (yes, I'd been watching the clock).

"I'm really sorry you don't believe me, but Max, would I _ever_ lie to you?" Fang gently placed a finger under my chin and turned my head so I was facing him.

"No, I guess not," I mumbled.

"I don't have feelings for Brigid. At all. You have to trust me on that. I guess this afternoon was just a stupid mistake on my part. But you, you're a whole different story."

I think that's the longest thing I've ever heard him say.

It took me a long time to collect my thoughts enough to form a coherent response. Too long.

Fang just gently kissed the tip of my nose and got up and left the room. To go check on Angel, I guess.

And I took that as an oppurtunity to find the front door and bolt like a bat outta hell.

_It's too late to catch me now._

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><p><strong>Aw poor Max. She's so confused. And if you didn't get it that last line is a line from the song.<strong>

**oh and Disclaimer: I don't own the song, TSwift does!  
>(And if you've never heard it I recommend it. It's pretty. But kinda sad.)<strong>

**And please don't yell at me for letting the Faxness die! It's not dying, it's. . .taking a twist.**

**Once again; sorry for the long wait but I had no access to my computer :|**

**You see that review button down there? Okay, you didn't hear it from me, but it takes you to Narnia. Go on, click it!**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	19. Jealousy

**I'm hiccuping really hard and it's making my chest hurt. Anyway.**

**Have I mentioned how amazing you guys are for all of these reviews? Yes? No? Okay well lemme say it again.**

**YOU GUYS ARE SUPER DUPER AMAZING AND I LOVE YOU ALL IN A NON-CREEPY WAY.**

**Oh yes I said it, I said it, I said it 'cause I can! Sorry that just ran through my head.**

**Oh and I should probably warn you in advance: I'm going on vacation on Saturday. And packing on Friday. And spending the whole day at my friends house tomorrow and a different friend's house on Wednesday. *Sigh*. Which means I won't be updating for a week. Which makes me really sad because I love writing this and I love reading the TOTALLY AMAZING REVIEWS I GET FROM TOTALLY AMAZING REVIEWERS :) No seriously, you rock.**

**So, y'know, don't say I didn't warn ya. :(**

**Disclaimer: I don't feel like coming up with some kind of witty disclaimer so I DON'T OWN MAXIMUM RIDE.**

* * *

><p>So I'll spare you the whole hysterical-girl-runs-home-and-hides-in-her-room-for-the-rest-of-the-night scene.<p>

The next morning I got dressed and ate breakfast and left in record time. _Perfect_. Fang wasn't waiting for me on his porch because he wasn't expecting me to be early. I took the long way so that I could turn the corner immediately and not be seen by Fang if he happened to poke his head out the window or something.

I was so focused on my own thoughts that I bumped into someone. Literally. I practically bounced off the person's chest before two strong hands caught me.

"Watch out there," a deep, familiar voice said. I peered up at the person in confusion.

"Dylan!" I was so caught off-guard that my heart practically pounded spastically right out of my chest.

"Hey." Amusement sparkled in those deep turquoise eyes. Automatically, my brain pulled up an image of Fang's dark eyes sparkling that exact same way and compared it to Dylan. I tried to shoo the thought away but it stuck to me like those extra-strength Band-Aids.

"So, what're you doing here?" I asked, trying not to sound distracted, which I so was.

"I live here." There was that amusement again. He gestured grandly at the small blue house behind him.

"Really?" I squeaked awkwardly. "I live over there." I pointed across the treetops and roofs and indicated my house. My house's coffee-colored roof towered over all the other smaller ranches in the area. I sighed internally.

He just half-smiled at me, and what did my brain do again? Start up the comparing. "Get out of my head," I muttered to the image of Fang stuck in my head.

Dylan looked startled. "What?"

"Oh, uh, nothing." I blushed but shrugged past Dylan and kept walking. He kept pace with me easily.

"So how come I never see you walking to school if you live around here?" Dylan asked casually.

"I usually take a shorter route that leads the other way. But today things were. . .complicated." I frowned.

Dylan noticed my discomfort. "Do you not want to talk about it?"

I smiled weakly. "You're good at that."

"Good at what?"

"Knowing when I don't want to talk about it and I want someone to cheer me up."

He smiled crookedly. "Well then you'll be happy to know that I finally came up with a favorite animal that is just as fantasical as a duck."

"Fantastical?" I giggled.

"Yes. Do you want to hear or not?"

"Yeah, go ahead," I said, shifting my backpack strap on my shoulder.

"A narwhal."

"A narwhal? Seriously?" I started cracking up like I had yesterday when I'd mentioned Hot Pockets to Fang. Narwhals. It was just so funny to think about. And so random. Wow, it really doesn't take much to get me laughing, does it? _Jeez, Max, get it together,_ I said to myself. _He's staring at you like he thinks you belong in a mental institution._ With tremendous effort I quit laughing and kept walking. But my lips were shaking and I was on the verge of cracking up again.

"So it worked?" Dylan grinned at me.

"What worked?" I asked, wiping my eyes with my sleeve. I'd started crying because I was laughing so hard again.

"Distracting you."

"Yeah."

He smiled again and I started thinking that maybe, just maybe, Dylan might be a good friend for me. . .

* * *

><p>I walked stiffly into social studies, like a robot. I was dreading seeing Fang again, for fear he'd be mad at me for bolting in the middle of a babysitting job. Or he'd just be mad that I didn't believe him about the Brigid thing. <em>At all.<em> But hey, after what happened with my dad. . .let's just say that I'm not really in the greatest position to trust anyone too much when they're begging me to believe them. After all, my dad had begged me to believe him - _Please, Max, believe me. Do you really think I'd ever do something like that?_ I'd been six years old, and scared, and I'd wondered why my dad had been asking me that. I'd looked up at my mom in panic, only to see her steely face telling Daddy to get the hell out of our house. I'd been so scared, and wondered why Mommy had said 'hell'. . .Ella and I had locked ourselves in the bathroom and sobbed for the rest of the night.

Alright, what a lovely trip down Memory Lane. . .

Back to the present.

To my intense relief, I walked in to see everyone crowded at the front of the room, waiting for Mrs. Jenner to assign them a new seat. I quietly tip-toed into the room and wormed myself in between two relatively quiet students. I didn't search the room for Fang, and just stared straight ahead. I wasn't the type that went looking for drama, y'know?

"Nicolas, next to Megan," Mrs. Jenner barked.

I watched inconspicuously as Fang extracted himself from the crowd and sat next to one of Lissa's super-slut minions. He dropped his books onto the desk and slid into his chair, looking bored. His eyes almost immediately found mine, and he gave me that half-smile that always sent my heart pounding. I clutched my binders a little closer to my chest, as if to muffle the noise of my frantically beating heart. I forced myself to smile back, then promptly turned away.

"Maximum, over here," Mrs. Jenner said, tapping the desk I was going to be sitting at for the next month or two. Fang's seat was by the window; mine was all the way against the wall opposite the window, but it was in the same row as Fang's. He turned and smirked at me, crossing his eyes. I promptly stuck my tongue out at him and he chuckled silently. Well, at least we could _act_ normal. You know, still best friends and all that jazz.

Megan gave me a dirty look and flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder and smiled flirtily at Fang again. He wasn't even looking at her, instead still making funny faces at me. I felt a little burst of smugness; instead of paying attention to Megan, who was by a long shot prettier than me, Fang was choosing to make faces at me. How romantic. Pfft. 'Cause we all know how romantic Maximum Ride Martinez is.

"Alright class, now I was talking to the other teachers today, and they suggested that I do a review game with you as prep for your big test," Mrs. Jenner announced. Shocked and excited whispered rippled throughout the room. Mrs. Jenner frowned but continued. "You'll all throw this - " she showed us a little green rubber ball " - around the room. I'll start by saying a word, and as we go around the room you have to add more words to make a true statement about the Revolutionary War."

"Lame," someone muttered. Everyone whispered 'shut up!'s back at the heckler, because let's face it, it's not every day that Mrs. Jenner decides to do a review game instead of making us take six pages of notes.

"Alright, I'll start," Mrs. Jenner announced. "General," she began, and tossed the ball to a scrawny kid in the middle of the room.

"Washington," the kid said in his nervous little squeaky voice, and tossed it to Megan.

"Was," Megan chirped, and handed the ball to Fang with a big smile.

"Leader," Fang said quietly, then grinned evilly and whipped the ball at me.

I plucked the ball easily out of the air and grinned back at Fang. "Sorry, Fangles," I whispered. "Of," I said, continuing the sentence, and lobbed the ball at some stupid wannabe-ganster kid who wasn't paying attention.

"Hey, watch it!" the kid snapped. He turned to look at me and his jaw went slack. I stared at him in confusion as he snapped his mouth back shut and muttered an apology before continuing the sentence with 'the'.

Okay, weird, but whatever.

"Continental," the next kid said.

"Army," someone finished, and gave the ball to Mrs. Jenner.

The game continued on like that for a while, and every time Fang and I got the ball we whipped it at each other as hard as we could. We'd caught it every time until I threw the ball extra hard and it simply glanced off the tip of Fang's finger and we both got sent to the office for 'violent throwing'. I'd snickered at that, but gone along with it.

"Stupid," I muttered to Fang as we walked to the office.

"Stupider," he shot back.

"Stupidest," I said, and before he could react, I pinned him to the wall. Despite my weight, I was strong, and Fang wasn't expecting it, so I kept him pinned against the painted brick wall easily. "Now please, stop leaving me hanging and _talk_."

"About what?" he demanded, stunned.

"Brigid," I almost growled.

Understanding washed over his face like a tsunami. "You really wanna know why I kissed her," he said, but the way he phrased it didn't make it seem like a question.

"If you ever expect me to trust and believe you again, yes."

He sighed. "At least let me go and we'll walk like normal people."

I hesitated for a second but finally let him off the wall and continued walking.

"Okay, I honestly didn't realize it 'til today. Like maybe five minutes ago, with that ganster kid you threw the ball at. I didn't realize it 'til then."

"Realize what?" I was completely mystified. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Didn't you notice how he was staring at you?"

"It was weird, but once again, what does that have to do with anything?"

"He was amazed. He thought you were the best thing since sliced ham. And that made me. . .jealous. I hadn't realized it until that very second, but I'd kissed her because I wanted you to get jealous. Trust me, I didn't know you'd seen, but I wanted you to be jealous, like I was today."

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><p><strong>*runs away screaming before you can kill me for leaving you at a cliffie*<strong>

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	20. Somewhere Only We Know

**I would have waited until tomorrow to update, but I decided what the hey and wrote a short chapter tonight, because of a request from Esperanza12 :) So, you know who to thank for this chapter!**

**Oh, and I was at Barnes & Noble earlier today, and they have huge displays of MR books, & they're calling it the '#1 series of the summer' :)**

**And I'm gonna pretend you don't all hate me for leaving the last chapter at a cliffhanger and I'll just start the darn chapter.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned MR, Fang & Angel would have ended MUCHO differently. Just. Sayin'.**

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><p>I was so stunned by Fang's speech that I almost tripped. "<em>What?<em>" I sputtered disbelievingly.

He grinned and suddenly _I_ was the one pinned against the wall. He leaned his forehead against mine and whispered, "I think you heard me."

"Maybe I didn't," I retorted stubbornly, trying to think through the haze clouding my thoughts. A haze that always mysteriously appeared whenever Fang was this close to me. Damn you stupid haze. Oh jeez. I'm mind-babbling again. My mind-babble only kicks in when Fang's around. . .

Okay, Max, enough.

"I think you did," Fang said, tilting his head slightly.

I was thinking about how warm his breath was and how my skin was ultrasensitive when he was this close to me and how honestly amazing his eyes are and how he smells so good and oh God, is he going to kiss me? What if he does and a teacher or someone else sees? That would be so embarassing.

Fang smirked slightly and tilted his head more and inched closer and I closed my eyes and. . .

The bell rang.

We sprang apart as if someone had announced there was a store giving out free food. All the classroom doors opened at once and hundreds of students crowded the hallway. I took that as an oppurtunity to slip away unseen. I made it back to social studies and grabbed my abandoned binders before making my way to my locker.

"Hey, Max!"

Why is it that in Montana, I could usually quietly slip from class to class without people bothering me, but here, everyone is demanding my attention at every turn? I felt like Bella from _Twilight_. My head was just about to explode.

I leaned against my locker and closed my eyes. "What?" I snapped at whoever was calling me.

"Max?" The voice sounded confused now.

I opened my eyes a tiny bit to see Dylan standing there.

"Hey Dylan," I muttered glumly.

"Don't wanna talk about it?"

"It's not that, I'm just. . .stressed." Very true. It felt like someone was stretching my nerves on a rack. Oh, and my patience. And sanity.

"Well, do you wanna grab some ice cream after school? I think that the Rita's down the street is closing tomorrow until spring. And they're giving out Italian ice and soft serve and all that stuff out for 70% off."

I instantly perked up. I loved Rita's. "Sure, but you're carrying my backpack."

He laughed and gave me a quick, unexpected hug. "Deal."

* * *

><p>I didn't look up when Fang sat next to me in art. I was completely focused on my drawing of Rita's. I'd finished the signature red-striped awning and logo and was moving on to sketching out the little windows that the workers poke their heads out of to take your order.<p>

"Rita's?" Fang asked, looking over my shoulder as he went to go get some paper. His breath tickled the side of my neck, but I tried to ignore it.

"Yeeeaaaahhh," I said, drawing out the word.

He just chuckled and pulled my hair over my shoulder, how he always did lately. I tried to stop hyperventilating and shaded in the Rita's menu.

"So, I was thinking we could take the long way walking home today and just. . .talk," Fang suggested as he returned with his paper.

I winced. "Um, I kinda have plans after school," I confessed, keeping my eyes away from him.

"Doing what?" Fang demanded.

"Going to Rita's." I tapped my pencil against my drawing.

"With?"

"Dylan," I mumbled.

"_What_?" Fang's voice wasn't raised at all, but the chilling fury in that one word sent shivers - bad ones - down my spine.

"What's wrong with that?" I asked innocently.

Fang propped his elbow up on the table and rested his head on his open palm. "I should've warned you," he growled to himself. "But I totally forgot about him. Damn it. Damn it damn it damn it."

"Fang, you're scaring me. _What_?"

"Dylan. . .isn't safe. Cancel your plans."

That comment immediately got on my bad side. "Don't tell me what to do."

He turned to look at me. His eyes were begging. "Please, Max, I'm just thinking about what's _safe_ for you. Dylan, he's - hurt people."

My mouth flopped open like a fish. "Are you serious? Fang, if this is some kind of joke, it's not - "

"Why would I joke about this? Max, I'm being completely serious with you. Just - please, trust me on this."

I was seriously afraid of the tone of voice he was using. "O-okay," I stuttered, and glanced back down at the drawing. Suddenly the smiling employee I'd drawn in the window looked too much like Dylan, his blue eyes too dark. I quickly scrubbed him out with the eraser on my pencil.

I couldn't believe it. All that time, those gorgeous turquoise eyes and honey-blond hair and movie-star smile had been hiding something dark and sinister. All the cheering-up and interest in my gymnastics and favorite animal. . .had that all been fake just to get close to me and hurt me? I was scared. I didn't want to be involved with Dylan. Why couldn't my life be normal for once? To my extreme horror and embarassment, tears filled my eyes.

"Max, are you okay?" Fang asked in a low voice.

"I'm scared," I whispered, my voice breaking. Yes, yes, I know. The indestructable Maximum Ride was crying because she was scared of some good-looking stupid kid who thought it was okay to hurt people. But right now, my life was just so out of hand, and I'd been thinking of my dad way too much, and it was all just. . ._too much_ for me to handle.

Fang went to talk to Miss Kenkel for a second and when he came back, he grabbed my hand and led me out of the classroom. "Where are we going?" I asked quietly, trying to get a handle on my tears.

"I told Miss Kenkel that you were stressed and upset and needed to go see the guidance counselor," Fang announced.

"We're not actually going to see the guidance counselor, are we?"

Fang just half-smiled. "No."

He led across the school to the side exit, keeping one hand firmly locked on mine. It felt so calm and normal to have his hand in mine that my breathing returned to normal and I finally forced myself to stop crying. (I was _so_ going to deny this if Fang ever brought it up again.)

Fang and I sat down on a nice shaded bench outside the front entrance and we just sat there. He didn't let go of my hand, and I didn't let go of his. Now that I was so comfortable, I leaned against Fang's muscular arm and rested my head on his shoulder. I was exausted. I'd stayed up all last night stressing about Fang. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep. And Fang's shoulder was so comfy. A song suddenly popped into my head and I sang my favorite part of the song softly. (**Somewhere Only We Know by Keane.**)

_And if you have a minute  
>Why don't we go<br>Talk about it  
>Somewhere only we know<em>

_This could be the end of everything  
>So why don't we go<br>Somewhere only we know  
>Somewhere only we know<em>

Fang kissed the top of my head and I felt my cheeks heat up. "That's a cute song."

"I know," I muttered. I wasn't even alive enough to tease Fang about saying the song was _cute_. Okay, a general Fang rule; Fang does not use words such as adorable, cute, pretty, or other overly descriptive, mushy-gushy words, unless used in a sarcastic way. Seriously. I let my eyelids droop and was almost asleep when Fang wiggled his shoulder to wake me up.

"Yo, Max. You know you shouldn't fall asleep in class," he teased.

"Not in class," I pointed out sleepily.

"Touche."

That stupid freaking bell is so loud. And it ruins even the most perfect moments, and it was so loud that it fully woke me up. Irritated, I kept up a string of complaints as I followed Fang back inside. (**A/N: Oops. . .I just typed Fag instead of Fang. Oops oops oops.**) It was entertaining to see how much my complaining annoyed Fang.

"Time for Max to shut up," Fang said, and smacked a hand over my mouth. Guess I was getting Nudge-like. But that doesn't mean I like having people force me to shut up. So what did I do? What I always did. I licked Fang's hand.

"Eew." Fang wiped his hand on his jacket. "Max, you are gross."

"Your hand tastes horrible." I turned and fake-retched into a water fountain. "What kind of soap do you use? Obviously not the kind that tastes like cinnamon. Well I don't really think there's soap that tastes like cinnamon. I wish there was. Don't you?" I peered up at Fang, grinning.

"You're giving me gray hairs," Fang said as he grabbed my arm and dragged me along. I hated being dragged, so of course I leaned back and dug my heels into the floor as much as I could. My Converse squeaked loudly as Fang just dragged me along.

"Jeez, Fang, let go!" I twisted my arm out of his grasp. "Since when am I draggable?"

"Since always."

"Max!"

Uh oh. I knew that voice. No no no no no no no no no no no no no nonononononononono this isn't happening.

"There you are, Max!" Dylan called, grabbing my arm, and I was so terrified that I screamed at the top of my lungs and passed out.

* * *

><p><strong>Hehe I don't know what made me end the chapter like that.<strong>

**Am I the only one that's seeing ads for fax machines and stuff whenever I'm reading an MR fiction? I find that pretty funny. Just. Sayin'.**

**Okay so I'm gonna go get a band-aid because I scraped my chin the other day and now it hurts really bad.**

**Don't you love how I just give you information about my life that you dont need, or care about?**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	21. What A Fun Trip Down Memory Lane

**Well I made the grand decision to stay home today and do nothing. Be grateful. Because this chapter will be longer. Oh and I just noticed it now, but last chapter was a perfect 2,000 words. I'm a genius. :D Lol no not really.**

**And since I have loads of time to write this, I'm actually going to answer people. Not that you care, but y'know. :)**

**fnickforever-Hehe it's connected to that. . .it was stuck in my head and I was humming it as I wrote the last chapter, and I was like OOH THAT'S PERFECT. :)**

**evilcookie-THANK YOUU :) That means a lot to me, because there's a lot in my story that could be improved :) So thank you!**

**Cindy- The Obsessive Reader-I'm still wondering why I ended the chapter like that. I wrote it at like midnight and I don't even know why I ended it like that. Lol oh well. :D**

**Fowlmaniac-Wow, pictures of fax machines? Now I'm cracking up. Oh, and where's my flying pony?**

**Sierra156-I would've published it like that! Good thing I was skimming through, for once, and I caught my mistake. Lol I could just imagine that now - 'I followed Fag back inside.' Now I'm cracking up hysterically. Again.**

**Oh and another tidbit about my life you probably don't care about; today I had to do one of those security check things where they give you the twisted-up words and you have to write what the words are? Yeah, those. And one of the words was Jeb. xD That was random.**

**Disclaimer: Gosh, people, I don't own Maximum Ride, okay?**

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><p>Okay, yes, yes, I know. The amazing indestructable Maximum Ride passes out because she's terrified of some stupid bully grabbing her arm.<p>

But I can explain.

Picture this; it was twelve years ago, in our old house in Montana. I had just turned three years a few months ago. Ella was two.

My mom was pregnant with twin boys. My mom and dad were planning on naming them Omega and Ari. I don't know why, I guess they wanted them to be unique.

A week later my dad took all of us to the hospital. I didn't know what was going on, but it looked like Mommy was in pain and I started crying because I was scared. Ella didn't know what was going on either, and she started crying too.

"It'll be okay, girls!" Daddy yelled from the front of the car. He sounded stressed. "You're going to have two new baby brothers!"

Ella and I stopped crying and listened to Daddy in interest. He told us about how Mommy was going to go to the hospital and have twins. They were going to be boys. He kept telling us about our new brothers all the way to the hospital. We were hooked. When we finally arrived at the hospital, Ella and I clung to each other as we tried to follow Daddy. Doctors took Mommy away and we started crying again. Daddy sat with us in the waiting room and calmed us down

It was _hours_ later when a doctor finally came and told Daddy that he needed him to come with her right away. Daddy smiled and took me and Ella's hands and followed the doctor to Mommy's hospital room. We were so excited.

The doctor finally reached the hospital room and turned around. "You shouldn't bring your daughters with you," the doctor said.

"Why not?" Daddy asked.

"I'll get a nurse to take care of them," the doctor said. "But you should go in there."

"Alright," Daddy agreed.

Ella and I were scared, but we followed the doctor to a playroom. We sat there with the blocks and Barbies and other toys for a long time, before Daddy came to get us. He was pale and it looked like he'd been crying. I'd realized twelve years later that it had probably been an act.

"Hi Daddy!" I bubbled. "Do I get to see baby brothers?"

Daddy sat down next to Ella and I. "No, sweetheart," he said softly.

I started crying again. "Why?" I wailed.

"Something went very wrong and your brothers. . .are sick," he explained.

I remember going home. Mommy couldn't stop crying. She sat in the backseat with me and Ella and held us and cried. We didn't know why she was crying, but we cried too. Even though I was just a toddler back then and barely knew what was going on, it was a sad memory.

Fast forward three years. I was six, Ella was five. Two years ago, our parents had told us the truth, thinking we could handle it; our brothers had died. Something had gone wrong and they'd died shortly after they'd been born. There had been more tears, of course.

Anyway, three years later Ella and I were watching TV when the phone rang. Our mom answered. I hadn't though much of the phone ringing at the time, but know I thought about it a lot. Actually, I'd started thinking about it a lot because of what happened next.

There was the sound of something dropping and cracking open in the kitchen. My mom shrieked and ran upstairs, yelling "JEB!" at the top of her lungs.

Ella and I turned to each other.

"What happened?" Ella wondered, looking worried.

"I dunno." We walked to the bottom of the stairs and looked up. We could hear yelling from Mommy and Daddy's room.

"I'm scared," Ella whimpered.

"Me too," I said. We'd gone back to the couch and watched Spongebob until Mommy and Daddy came downstairs. Mommy was shoving clothes at Daddy and yelling at him to get out. Ella and I watched with huge, worried eyes.

"Max!" Daddy called.

"Don't you dare drag Max into this!" Mommy warned. I toddled over to them and stood next to Mommy. Daddy crouched down so his eyes were level with mine.

"Max." He took my hand.

Mommy wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. "Don't listen to Daddy, sweetie. He lied to you. He'll lie to you again."

I looked back to Daddy, confused.

"Max, please believe me," Daddy begged. "Do you ever think I'd do something like that?"

I looked up at Mommy. "Get the hell out of here, and leave my daughters alone," Mommy spat.

I cried so much that night.

Fast forward again - five years this time. I was eleven, Ella was ten and just starting up with her clothes/makeup/boys obsession, and I'd already been doing gymnastics for five years, and soccer for two. I'd just started ice skating a couple months ago, and swimming.

My mom sat me down at the kitchen table and said she wanted to talk about my dad. I'd been so shocked - we'd never talked about him.

"You remember when I forced Daddy to leave?" Mom said, her eyes sad. "And he wanted you to believe him, but you didn't know what it was about?"

I nodded numbly.

"I never explained why," Mom continued. "Do you want me to tell you?"

I nodded again.

Mom gave me a small smile and took a deep breath, beginning her explanation. "Remember when we thought that Omega and Ari were dead after they were born? It turns out they weren't. Jeb had hired secret agents to act as nurses and take them away. The agents hid my sons and your brothers, and told everyone that they had died. But really, the agents took the babies to a secret facility and waited there for Jeb. Jeb went there when we were all asleep and experimented on my baby boys." She gulped in a huge breath of air, looking like she was trying not to cry. She sped up their aging so that Omega was fourteen and Ari was seven. They enhanced Omega - gave him extra speed, strength, intelligence, the whole bit. They fused Ari's DNA with lupine DNA - which is basically wolf genes. Ari was what they called a recombinant-DNA experiment, because they recombined his DNA. Ari had the ability to look mostly human, but change into a terrifying wolf-man."

I couldn't help it - an image had wormed itself into my brain then. When I had been eight years old, I'd started imagining what my brothers would have looked like. They would have had brown hair, like me, but lighter eyes, like my Daddy. They would have been adorable, funny kids. I'd thought about it countless nights when I should've been asleep.

"They thought their skills were perfectly equal. They though that if put in battle, they could've gone at it for ages and neither would've won. So they tested it. They put them in a big arena with nothing but their bare hands to fight with and told them to fight. So they did." Mom's voice got all choked up then. "And Omega's skills were too much for Ari and Omega ended up killing his own brother. A few months later there was an explosion in the lab and Omega died too. That was when one of Daddy's agents called, in hysterics. Without even listening to see who was on the phone, he said, 'Jeb, come quick. There was en explosion and it killed Omega!' That was when I ran upstairs and got the full story from Daddy. And that was what he was talking about when he was begging you to believe him."

I was frozen. As I had grown up, I'd learned it was important to stay stong and not let things get to you. But this just. . .tore me apart. And to this day it was hard for me to trust anyone, or be strong whenever it seemed like someone was threatening me. Sure, I could beat the stuffing out of pretty much anyone, but sometimes it was too much and I was so terrified that I just shut down whenever I felt threatened.

* * *

><p>I woke up in an unfamiliar place. I kept my eyes closed, but I could just <em>feel<em> that it was an unfamiliar environment. It smelled different. Whatever I was laying on felt weird and scratchy. The light hitting my closed eyes was turning everything into a red haze under my lids.

I opened my eyes and blinked painfully against the sunlight streaming in through the window. I tried close the blinds while keeping my eyes closed and ended up sliding off whatever I was on and landing on the floor with a painful _oof_.

I got up and looked around. Oh, ugh! I was in the nurse's office. In one of those closed-off rooms with the smelly, itchy cots that kids go to when they claim to have a stomach ache or whatever.

I tentatively walked back into the main nurse's office. The nice-looking Nurse Patti looked up from her paperwork.

"Oh, hello!" she squeaked. "How are you feeling? You were carried in here a little while ago by a couple very tall boys." The young nurse arched her eyebrows at me and smiled. "The dark one said that he wasn't sure what had happened and to ask you when you woke up."

"Oh, um. . ." I scratched my arm uncomfortably. "I'm not really sure. One minute I was just fine and the next I woke up here."

"Maybe your blood sugar got too low?" she suggested.

I shrugged unhelpfully.

"Hmm. If that's the case then you should probably chomp on some gum or something. Did you eat breakfast this morning?"

"Yes."

Nurse Patti tapped her chin and dug around in her purse and handed me an unopened pack of Trident gum. "Here. Gum has sugar, and normally I'd say don't chew it, but this is a special occasion." She winked at me as I took the gum. "I don't have any Hersey's or anything for you, so gum is the next-best thing."

"Oh. Thanks." I forced myself to smile.

"No problem. It's lunch time now, so your should probably head on down to the cafeteria."

Oh, crap, it was already lunch time? Wow.

"Thanks," I mumbled again, and walked out. I took one look at the gum and carelessly shoved it in my back pocket. I didn't really like gum, but sometimes it was okay.

Everyone at my lunch table was eating silently, worried expressions on their faces. Well, except Fang, who was always emotionless. But I knew him so well, that I could decipher the meaning behind his tightly clenched jaw, the slight flicker of emotion in his dark eyes. He was worried.

"Hey," I muttered as I pulled my chair out and sat down. I was exausted, even after my little nap in the nurse's office.

"Max!" everyone seemed to shout at once. Fang didn't say anything, but bumped his knee against mine under the table. When I turned to look at him his onyx-colored eyes were full of relief.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, jeez!" I laughed as J.J., Nudge, Tess, and Carolyn all jumped up to give me a hug at the same time. "I need air!" I choked out. The all smiled at me and returned to their seats.

"ZOMG I WAS SO WORRIED!" Nudge blurted. "I mean - " Tess clapped a hand over Nudge's mouth, effectively cutting off her words.

"Okay, so picture this," Iggy interrupted. "Fang comes to the table, the big emotionless rock as always, sits down and says 'Max passed out.' I mean, way to be wague, but seriously Max, what happened?"

"The nurse thinks it was from low blood sugar," I said lamely.

Gazzy snorted. "Oh yeah. That's it. As if you don't have like six chocolate donuts for breakfast everyday."

"Oh shut up, Gaz," I muttered, glaring playfully at him. "I do not."

"When I got home from Robbie's house half the cookies were gone," he pointed out.

"It was Fang, I swear!"

"Yeah right."

I grabbed a roll from Nudge's plate and tossed it at Gazzy. He caught it in his mouth and grinned triumphantly around the mouthfull of doughy bread.

"Like a boss," Gazzy said, his mouth still full with the roll, so it came out sounding something like 'Ike uh boff.'

"Eew," Carolyn muttered, scrunching her nose up.

"You're such a girl," Iggy complained.

"Maybe it's because I am a girl," Carolyn pointed out.

"Yeah, but Max doesn't act that girly," Iggy countered. "I mean, she's like one of the guys! But you're all girly-girl."

"Thanks, Ig. So I'm a guy now," I muttered.

Iggy rolled his pale blue eyes. "You know what I mean."

I grabbed a handful of peas from J.J.'s plate and started throwing them at Iggy with amazing precision, if I do say so myself. He was trying to catch them in his mouth like Gazzy did, but he was failing miserably and the peas were just bouncing off his nose and chin every time he tried. Soon enough he had peas all over his lap and a bunch of peas had scattered all over the table.

Fang chuckled and grabbed my hand. By now, it felt like a routine. I just had to hope that no one noticed. His thumb rubbed soothing circles on the back of my hand, and I relaxed slightly. Dylan was no where to be seen, I was surrounded by my best friends, and Fang was amazing at calming me down.

I guess you could say things were perfect, even though I was still shaking inside from my flashback earlier.

* * *

><p>"Are you okay?"<p>

NOOOOOOOO. It took everything in me to not scream and pass out again. But I couldn't help it. It was as if I had remembered everything clearly when I was passed out in the nurse's office. And now I was even more paranoid and protective.

"Uh, yeah," I mumbled, not looking up.

"What happened?" Dylan demanded.

"Low blood sugar," I said.

"But you screamed, like you were terrified of something."

I shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking about something when you grabbed my arm and I guess that scared me and I passed out. The nurse thought it was low blood sugar. I'm going with the one that has a medical degree."

"Okay, I get that. So are we still on for Rita's today?"

"Uh, I think so. Is it okay if Fang comes with us?"

Uh oh. I'm in big trouble. I was supposed to cancel my plans with Dylan, but now I'd just gone and made it worse.

Dylan's turquoise eyes darkened. "Why?"

"He's. . .protective. He's like my big brother and he's my best friend. I go everywhere with him and we usually walk home together. He wasn't happy when I told him I couldn't walk home with him today. So I figured this way we could still hang out and I wouldn't be ditching Fang."

Actually, I'd just made that all up now, but hey, it works.

"I guess so," Dylan said reluctantly.

"Is something wrong with that?" I asked innocently.

"No, no. It's just that I thought it would just be us."

"Sorry," I muttered. I slammed my locker and walked off to science.

Well, I'd just made that situation considerably worse.

* * *

><p><strong>Why am I always posting at like 11 at night? It might not be for you guys, you might be in different time zones, but. . .it's bothering me how I always update at 11. Urrrghhhh.<strong>

**And I'm sorry if I don't get to post tomorrow or Friday. It takes me forever to pack, and I'm leaving on Saturday. I'm trying to convince my mom to let me bring the laptop, but it's not looking good, seeing as we'll be on the beach most of the time. . .**

**So sorry if this is my last update for a while :(**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	22. I Care About You

**I should be packing -sigh- but I'm not. :P**

**And I'm super duper proud of myself for updating. :D**

**Lol I saw a truck today that said Unitex and the first thought that ran through my head was OMG ITEX IS GOING TO DESTROY US ALL. Then I realized it said Unitex, not Itex. Then I felt stupid.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

* * *

><p>Who's terrific idea was it to go to Rita's with both Fang <em>and<em> Dylan?

Oh right. Mine.

We hadn't even gotten to Rita's yet, and already there was so much awkward energy between us that I wanted to run screaming in the opposite direction. I stood miserably in between them as we walked. We were all silent. Dylan had insisted on keeping his promise and carrying my backpack, so I had nothing to occupy my hands and pretend to be interested in.

"How'd you do on your Latin quiz?" I asked Fang awkwardly, squinting against the sun as I looked up at him.

"Fine."

"Always the conversationalist," I grumbled, actually getting a smile out of Dylan.

"Totally."

I lightly shoved him and he shoved me back, and _of course_ it escalated into a mini war, again. He eventually just got tired of our fight and picked me up and carried me along as if I was an annoying puppy. I kicked and screamed and demanded to be let down, even though people were starting to give us funny looks and Dylan looked mega uncomfortable. I would've laughed at his constipated expression if I hadn't been screaming my head off at Fang.

"If you do not put me down right this instant I will shove pink glitter up your nose so you'll sneeze pink sparkles for weeks."

"Ew." Fang put me down.

"Exactly." I shoulder-bumped him once more time for good measure and danced out of the way when he went to punch me. Unfortunately I smashed right into Dylan when I moved to avoid Fang's fist. Dylan just smiled at me, and I couldn't help but think he was plotting a million ways to choke me with my own Rita's ice cream.

After five more minutes of totally awkward conversation (more like silence), we arrived at Rita's. Needless to say, I couldn't be happier. Now everyone had an excuse to not talk; we'd all be eating ice cream and it would be nice and quiet. Perfect. I scanned the menu board, practically drooling as I imagined what I'd get. It had been forever since I'd been to Rita's, and it was always fantabulously delcious everytime.

Did I just say fantabulously? Nudge must be rubbing off on me. Pretend that never happened.

Anyway, blah blah blah, we ordered our ice cream and sat down. Instead of sitting on opposite sides of the picnic table, we all sandwiched together onto one bench. It was really awkward. I mean, REALLY. I'd sat down so innocently, and then Dylan and Fang had sat down on either side of me simultaneously. All I could do was stare straight ahead silently and lick the drips of soft-serve ice cream off my sugar cone.

"Look," Dylan said, elbowing me lightly. I flinched away from his touch, hoping he wouldn't notice. "Ducks," he continued, pointing at the tiny pond across the street.

Sure enough, a flock **(LOL.) **of ducks were chillin' and swimming at the pond. One actually squawked and waddled across the street when there were no cars coming. I focused intently on the duck to keep myself distracted. It had pretty turquoise feathers all along its wings and dark brown feathers completed his head and tail. Overall a pretty nice-looking duck.

Am I random or what? I'm thinking about a nice-looking duck. Not cool.

"I remember when you told me about how you like ducks last night," Fang said with a slight smile.

"Yeah, but that was just to get you to shut up," I said, taking a bite out of my sugar cone.

"But still," Fang insisted. "You never explained why."

I shrugged, but before I could say anything, Dylan interrupted. "She thinks they're cute," he blurted. "And she thinks they're sadly underrated, and she likes the one with pretty colorful feathers."

"Oh, I didn't know that, Max," Fang said sarcastically to Dylan. "Thanks for the insider info." Dylan just scowled. Fang gave me a how-does-he-know-all-that look. I responded with an I'll-explain-everything-later look.

God this was so awkward. I took the last bite of my cone and went to go throw away my chocolate-ice-cream-covered napkins. I was a messy eater, what can I say? Well, a messy eater when it came to ice cream. When I returned to the table Fang and Dylan had already finished their Italian ices and were glaring coldly at each other. I sat down and fake-checked my phone. I needed to get out of there. Now.

"My mom just texted me and said she needs me home right away," I lied convincingly, snapping my phone shut and sliding it in my pocket.

Dylan tore his eyes away from glaring at Fang to look at me. "That sucks! Are you sure you can't stay longer? I was gonna say we could go downtown to the beach or something."

"Sorry, Dyl," I muttered. "Our families are going out to dinner together," I said, coming up with another random lie.

He frowned. "Who's 'we'?"

I gestured at my silent partner-in-crime. "Fang and I."

Fang smirked at Dylan. "Sorry, dude."

Dylan looked deflated. "Yeah, whatever. See ya later." He started walking off in the opposite direction.

"Where're you going?" I called, confused. "Don't you live that way?" I jerked my thumb over my shoulder.

"Yeah," he said. "But I feel like taking a walk downtown. See you tomorrow."

"Okay," I said, still confused. Even though I knew Dylan wasn't exactly safe, I found myself feeling bad that I might've hurt his feelings.

I felt Fang's arm go around my waist and I felt his lips at my ear. "Let's go already," he muttered. I forced myself to look nomal and calm and nodded.

As soon as we were walking along the shaded, protected residential streets, Fang's expression darkened. "Weren't you supposed to _cancel_ your plans with Dylan?"

"Yes," I said flatly.

"So, care to explain?"

I shrugged. "I dunno, I just felt bad. So I figured this way you could be my nanny and my chaperone and tell me what to do," I returned venemously.

"Max, I'm telling you the truth. He's not safe. Telling you to cancel your plans was to _protect_ you," Fang reminded me.

"Oh right, like I need protecting," I said stubbornly.

"Sometimes, when you're not paying attention, you miss things. You may think that you don't need protecting, but sometimes, you do."

"I don't need protecting," I said slowly, enunciating each word carefully. "Since when is this your business anyway? I can take care of myself."

Fang stopped and grabbed my wrist to pull me to a stop too. "Because I care about you, Max. And I shudder to think of anything else happening to you." His gaze trapped and held me, and I felt like I was slowly melting into a puddle in his hands. Maximum Ride - putty in the hands of Fang. Sigh.

Fang leaned even closer and kissed me again. It wasn't a never-ending kiss like the first time he'd kissed me, but instead it was quick, just a quick peck on the lips. But it seemed sweeter and more meaningful than the first time he'd kissed me.

"You look surprised," Fang chuckled quietly.

"I guess I am," I said, trying for a nonchalant tone and failing miserably.

Fang leaned his forehead against mine. "You have really pretty eyes," he said sweetly.

Oh my God. Fang, saying something _sweetly_? Usually Fang talks with no emotion whatsoever, but when he does use emotion, he sounds _sweet_. That was so not like him. Hell must be freezing over. Or maybe Fang was like, the brooding poet type. Secretly.

"Um, thanks," I murmured. He just laughed, like a full-blown laugh, and kept walking. I almost tripped because let's face it, _Fang had just full-out laughed. _Not like a sarcastic little chuckle like he always did, but a laugh. Like a normal person. I was so surprised that I was stunned into silence for a few seconds. First Fang saying something sweetly, then he's full-out laughing.

Will I _ever_ solve this mystery I call my best friend? I'm starting to think not.

* * *

><p>I stayed up really late, again. What was I thinking about? Fang, of course. Fang telling me I have pretty eyes. Fang laughing. Fang telling me he cares about me. Fang telling me I looked better with my hair behind my shoulders. Fang. Fang. Fangfangfangfangfangfang.<p>

"ARGH ARGH BLAAAAH WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DOOO UUURGH!" I shrieked. Ahh. It felt good to let it out.

"What the hell, Max?" Ella appeared in my doorway, looking irritated. "How can I be expected to get my beauty sleep with you screaming like Frankenstein gone wrong in here?"

"Sorry," I said cheerfully. It was obvious I wasn't really sorry, but hey, that's me.

"Why aren't you sleeping like the rest of the normal people in this world?" Ella whined.

"Im not tired," I said, bouncing up and down on my bed.

"So you decided to scream like a freak for no reason?"

"Totally."

"You're so weird, Max." Ella shook her head and went back to her own room.

Whatever. More thinking time for me. I clutched a pillow to my chest as I thought.

Fang seemed to be changing so much lately. And it was confusing me so much it felt like I was walking around in endless circles. Or maybe like I felt on that spinny ride, the Scrambler, that Ella always threw up on. I liked to think that maybe Fang was changing in response to me moving here barely a month ago. It was so weird how we'd met and immediately clicked and became best friends. That had never happened before. Usually it took me a long time to get to know people and trust them enough to consider them a best friend. But Fang was just. . .different. In a good way.

Suddenly my phone vibrated, scaring the bejeezus outta me. I grabbed it and turned it on silent so it couldn't freak me out anymore before reading the text.

Fang: _Turn off your light and go to sleep._

Confused, I glanced up at my window. Oops. My shades were wide open. I yanked down my shades and texted Fang back.

Max: _Stalker.  
><em>Fang: _Insomnia much?  
><em>Max: _No. Just not tired.  
><em>Fang: _You were exausted all day today.  
><em>Max: _Not anymore.  
><em>Fang: _That's convincing.  
><em>Max: _I know.  
><em>Fang: _Go to sleep.  
><em>Max: _Okay mom.  
><em>Fang: _You're hilarious. Goodnight.  
><em>Max: _I'm aware. 'Night._

I yawned lightly and rested my head against my fluffy pillow. Suddenly I felt like I could sleep for hours. Without turning off my lamp, I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The first time I'd actually slept well since my Fang confusion had started.

* * *

><p><strong>The ending is abrupt, I know. But I seriously gotta get packing if I wanna be at least half done before I fall asleep in my suitcase.<strong>

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	23. Laughing Underwater

**Warning: You do NOT have to read this ginormously long note. I'm like ranting. Cause I haven't gotten to rant to you guys in a week.**

**SO HI I MISSED YOU. I bet you hate me by now for not updating for like a week but I'll pretend that's not the case. :)**

**Okay so you know how I said inspiration just comes up and slaps you in the face sometimes? Yeah, well, inspiration came and slapped me in the face while I'm out in the ocean trying to stay on my boogie board. And I ended up falling off. So yeah, wasn't too thrilled about that. And then inspiration slapped me again when it was raining and I was on the boardwalk and I almost slipped and landed in front of those really annoying tramcars. You know, the ones that always go 'Watch the tramcar please' over and over and I'm just like '-_- shut up.' But anyway, I have some more ideas to keep this lil' plot train rollin. I'm sorry I'm kinda goofy from being cooped up in a car for multiple hours.**

**Oh and guess what? I can now say I've been to Delaware :D Like, there's this Cape May-Lewes ferry. (Psst, Cape May is like, the tip of New Jersey, and Lewes is on the coast of Delaware. There's this tiny little stretch of ocean between them, and that's where the ferry goes.) So yeah, I took the ferry and went to Delaware. I dunno if you've ever been on a ferry, but they're big. And most of them have snack bars inside (with Gatorade :D). And on the way back the thing was rocking back and forth so much I almost fell and smacked my head on a bench. And of course the whole time I'm thinking 'I am totally going to be launched over the side of this boat and die.' But I didn't.**

**Oh and while I was on the boardwalk I won a little Angry Bird stuffed animal. And I got this really cool - okay y'know what? I'm just gonna shut up.**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson has written like, hundreds of books. Including Maximum Ride. Have I written like, hundreds of books, including Maximum Ride? NO.**

* * *

><p>I'd rationalized that maybe I was stressing too much because I hadn't been relaxing lately, at all. I hadn't done anything remotely relating to gymnastics except when I'd showed Dylan a couple tricks. I hadn't been swimming since I first arrived in Florida. And I hadn't played volleyball since the volleyball unit in gym ended. I was just waiting for the spring team tryouts.<p>

Since it was already fall break for the rest of the week, I got up bright and early the next morning and put on my favorite one-piece bathing suit. I grabbed a towel and a cover-up t-shirt and left without my mom or Ella waking up and demanding to know where I was going. Points to me.

It was peaceful outside. So quiet. No annoying cars or bikers or anything. Well, except me. I slung my towel over my shoulder and hopped on my bike, pedaling faster than I usually did. The community pool opened _really_ early. As in, it opened about an hour ago.

I hadn't realized how much I'd missed swimming until my toes curled around the edge of the board as I bounced lightly. Especially diving. I missed my diving lessons. I missed learning new things and being ridiculously happy when I finally mastered a new dive. And that rush you feel when you jump into ice-cold water and a sweltering hot day. And the pride you get from going down so low your fingertips graze the bottom of the pool.

Keeping my hands practically glued to my sides, I hopped off the diving board and pointed my toes so that my body was a perfect straight line. I barely made a splash as I went underwater. I felt that barely containable burst of pride when my feet flattened against the bottom of the pool. I bent my legs and pushed up off the bottom of the pool so that I shot updards like a torpedo. I surfaced just as my lungs ran out of air.

My grin practically stretched from ear to ear as I swam out of the diving area and floated on my back. It was so quiet. There were only a couple other people here, and they were mostly just in the practice lanes, practicing butterfly strokes and things like that. I dove underwater and placed my hands firmly against the bottom. My legs were out of the water from my toes to my waist. I straightened my legs and forced myself to hold the position in a perfect handstand. I could feel the weight of my whole body settling against my arms, and my arms started aching because they weren't used to the effort. I almost laughed underwater as I thought about what I must've looked like above water - just my legs sticking up in a perfect line in the air. I tried to hold in my laughter, but my breath left my lungs in a big burst of silvery bubbles and I surfaced for air.

The sun had just broken free and bathed the pool in a patch of golden sunlight. I felt like Ariel the little mermaid breaking the surface of the water, except there was no sunset in the background and I wasn't a misterious silhouette with long red hair. Angel loved that movie. Especially because her real name was Ariel. I'd promised to give her swimming lessons sometime in the near future.

"Why is it that I always see you at the pool?"

I didn't even have to turn around to know it was Iggy talking to me. "Because I'm amazing and you're just drawn to the pool whenever you sense my presence here? I thought that was obvious." I turned around to see Iggy sitting on the side of the pool, his strawberry-blond hair dripping all over.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that's it," Iggy said with a grin.

I rolled my eyes and hoisted myself up to sit on the side next to him.

"How come it feels like I never talk to you?" I mused.

"You talk to me every day at lunch," Iggy pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's when everyone else is there. I never actually get to talk to _you_, by yourself."

Iggy waggled his eyebrows like the perv he is. "I'll make myself more available."

I laughed and smacked his chest. "Shut up! You're such a pervert."

"I know. Let's go have a diving contest."

"Sure. I'll cream you." I hopped up eagerly and raced Iggy to the pair of diving boards. At least six lifeguards told us to walk, but we just went faster. Iggy even yelled "Bite me!" at one of them, earning a bunch of disapproving stares, and I think one of them actually flipped us the bird. Oh well. I didn't exist to please the authorities. Actually, I pretty much always did the exact opposite. From kindergarten teachers to the McDonald's janitor, I never actually did what people told me to do. My mom said I 'marched to the beat of my own drum', even though I always got in trouble.

" 'Scuse me." Iggy grinned as he shouldered past me and stepped up to the diving board. I shoved him as he passed me and he stumbled slightly on the board. One of the lifeguards blew her whistle at me, but I barely even glanced in her direction.

"C'mon," I yelled to Iggy, who was just standing on the edge of the board. "Or I will personally walk up there and shove you in."

"I dare you," Iggy said with an evil grin.

Which, in case you didn't know, was the _wrong_ thing to say.

I hopped up on the board soundlessly - that's me, silent Max. Like a panther or something. Iggy had his arms crossed with a smug smile on his face, like he didn't think I would do it. I walked forward and fake-hesitated before I shoved him in.

It worked. Iggy grinned even wider, as if to say 'I knew you wouldn't do it.' Honestly, you think he'd know me well enough by now. I noticed that a bunch of lifeguards were shrieking and blowing their whistles and screaming at us that only one person was allowed on the board at a time. Completely ignoring them, I shoved Iggy off the board. His shocked expression sent me into hysterics, even more hysterical than when I'd made the totally random Hot Pockets statement to Fang the other day. Iggy surfaced, looking like he was going to personally feed me too a bunch of sharks. I giggled hysterically as he stomped over to the diving board and jumped up, ready to shove me off. I simply stepped off the board before Iggy could shove me. My jump was timed perfectly, so perfectly that Iggy's fingers barely touched me. I cackled like a maniac before I plunged into the suddenly freezing cold water.

Here's a tip: try not to laugh when you're about to splash into thirteen and a half feet of ice-cold water. You should concentrate on holding your breath first. Just a little piece of insider info for ya. Because let me tell you, when you're laughing hysterically underwater, it doesn't work out. You try to gasp in more air to laugh harder, but there's no air.

I splashed into the water, still gasping for air, only to realize that there weren't magical pockets of air underwater. I gurled out a terrified underwater scream, and just like that, all the air in my lungs left me in a tiny little burst of bubbles. I remembered to hold my breath, about five seconds too late, because duh, I didn't have any breath to hold anymore. Cold water rushed in my nose, filling my lungs with water. I panicked, of course, and thrashed around blindly in the water. My brain was starting to feel fuzzy and exausted from lack of oxygen.

And then, of course, my consciousness shut down without my permission.

* * *

><p>I blinked water out of my eyes to see the sun beating down painfully on me. Someone had their arm wrapped around my waist and was towing me through the water. I panicked for a second - what the heck was going on? - before I realized what had happened. I had run out of air underwater and almost drowned. That didn't mean I liked being tugged around in the water like I was some kind of moronic dog.<p>

I twisted easily out of the person's arm. The lifeguard spun around to look at me in alarm. He grabbed me and started towing me to the side again.

"Let go, you stupid freaking nutcase," I growled. The effect was kind of ruined by me coughing up water.

The lifeguard didn't even turn to look back at me. "Miss, you just almost drowned and it would be best not to wear yourself out," he said, like he thought he was the king of the hill. A bunch of lifeguards were waiting at the side, and they all yanked me up out of the water. I batted away all the hands tugging at me and sat up on my own. I coughed up a bunch of water on the cement - more than I had thought possible. I must've swallowed a lot of water.

"Max!"

I recognized that voice. Why did that voice find me wherever I went? Why did it always show up at the most annoying times?

"Max, are you okay?" Fang crouched down next to me.

I frowned at him. "Why are you here?"

"Nice to see you too. What happened?"

"I was laughing at Iggy's hilarious expression. Underwater."

Fang shook his head and helped me up. "You're hopeless," he complained.

"I second that emotion," Iggy said. I blinked, startled. Oh. He'd been standing behind me the whole time. Wow, I'm really not very observant.

"Your mom has been looking all over for you," Fang said to Iggy. "She called my mom and I overheard their conversation. I'm actually surprised that they didn't guess you were here."

Iggy shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up. "I left a note on the fridge." He frowned. "I think."

"Not that this isn't interesting," I interrupted. "But can we go?" My teeth were chattering so hard I thought they'd shatter.

Fang frowned. "It's fall. Why are you guys even at the pool anyway?"

"It was warm this morning," Iggy pointed out. "Now the storm clouds are rolling in." I glanced up at the sky to see it filling with ominous dark gray clouds.

"Looks like it's gonna be a bad storm," Fang noted. My teeth were chattering even harder now, and I wrapped my arms around my torso, trying to keep warm. After all, my bathing suit was soaking wet and there was no sun to warm me up. I was pretty sure I'd be turning blue in a couple seconds.

"God Max, tone down the teeth-chatter a bit. It's distracting," Iggy teased.

"I'm freezing," I said bitterly.

"I can see that."

"Her lips are turning blue." Fang looked amused.

I shot him the dirtiest look I could manage. "Thanks for noticing."

"Let's get her home before she turns into an icicle and we have to explain to her mom why she's an ice sculpture," Fang suggested. I shot him another death glare.

"If we must," Iggy said reluctantly. "I'll meet you guys by the gate. Lemme grab my stuff first."

"Grab mine too. It's right over there." I pointed out the picnic bench where I'd left my towel and t-shirt.

"Why do I have to get it?" Iggy complained.

"Just go." I shoved him in the direction of the bench. He ambled off, muttering to himself.

Fang was trying not to laugh. "You have goose bumps all over your arms."

I extended my arms and sure enough, goose bumps. "I'm cold," I growled.

He just chuckled again and grabbed my arm to tow me closer. "Here," he said, and slid one arm out of his jacket. He draped one end of his jacket over my shoulders. Of course it was weird as heck because he had the other half still around his shoulders, which meant I had to huddle ridiculously close to him if I wanted to be warm at all. Chuckling again, Fang draped his arm over my shoulders to keep the jacket in place.

Normally I would be all embarassed and shoving him away and stuff, but his jacket was so warm that I didn't protest. I kinda felt like a little penguin, huddled under his jacket. Two little penguins in a pod! Sometimes I amuse myself.

"Dang, you're really cold," Fang said, flinching slightly.

"No kidding. Maybe that's why my lips are turning blue," I said sourly.

Fang shivered. "Still. You're really cold."

"And you're really warm. So deal with it."

Have you ever tried walking under someone's jacket, with that person? It's kinda hard. You have to do the best you can do, which is usually just an awkward shuffle 'cause you have to walk so close together.

Iggy met us at the gates as promised, and then a sticky little problem occured to us. Both Fang and Iggy had walked to the pool. I was the only one who had rode my bike here. And I was so warm under Fang's jacket that I definitely was not going to ride my bike, out in the stupid open cold air. Eventually we settled on Iggy riding my bike back to his house, because he lived in the opposite direction. He'd get my bike back to me whenever he could, but I wasn't too concerned. After all, I could beat the stuffing out of him if he never returned it. Fang and I were just gonna walk home under his jacket, no matter how long that took.

"Laughing underwater. That's a new low, even for you. As in, a new low of intelligence," Fang pointed out as we started walking.

"What can I say? It's a gift," I replied bitterly.

He immediately changed the subject. "At this rate we won't be home by lunchtime."

"You didn't have to come to the pool. So think of this as your punishment."

"Seriously, you can't walk _any_ faster?" Fang complained.

I purposely slowed down and Fang sighed in frustration. "Can't I just carry you? It'll go much faster."

"No!" I growled.

Fang glanced at me pityingly before just scooping me up and walking along. Que kicking and frantic screaming from moi. Heads were starting to turn, but Fang just walked right on along as if I was sitting perfectly still. At one point I almost dropped out of his arms and face-planted on the cement. I screamed and hung on to Fang for dear life, digging my nails into his shoulder to hold on. I felt his shoulders and chest shaking with laughter and tried my hardest not to smack him.

"You will pay," I said darkly, settling down to give Fang the silent treatment. He whistled cheerfully to fill the silence. I was so absorbed in being pissed at Fang that I didn't realize we were standing on my front porch. Fang used his elbow to ring the bell, and my mom came to the door, looking worried. Her expression changed when she saw me, just lounging around in Fang's arms, like, 'hey, wussup?'

"Maximum Ride, would you like to explain where you've been?" my mom scolded.

"The pool," I said, dropping casually out of Fang's arms. He let me go without comment.

"And you didn't bother to tell anyone where you'd be going?"

"Uh, no. Sorry." Fang poked me in the back and I backed up a little and snapped my foot out backwards, hitting him in the thigh. I heard him hiss in a breath and smiled evilly, even though he couldn't see.

"Thanks for bringing her home, Fang. I know what a pain she is." My mom smiled apologetically at Fang, who just nodded back and tried to stifle a smile. I stepped back again so I could step on his foot, even though I knew it probably wouldn't hurt him.

"Bye, Fang," I said, a clear dismissal. He just gave me an evil grin and jogged across the street. I turned around to see Mom's acusing expression.

"Are you and Fang dating?" she asked suspiciously.

I almost choked on my own breath. "God, no!"

And everything went downhill from there.

* * *

><p><strong>I was gonna make that longer but I got bored and I have three hours of unwatched shows on my DVR. And I really wanna watch them.<strong>

**Is anyone else here watching Pretty Little Liars? Cause like I didn't see the episode where Ian died. I only saw the 'previously on' but I was really confused. So someone please PM me or something and tell me what happened cause I'm really confused here.**

**And guess what? I'm going to Six Flags for like, the first time on Tuesday. Well, not really. I've been to Hurricane Harbor and I don't know if that counts.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	24. I Need To Tell You Something

**Once again; please feel no need to read this whole A/N. I'm rambling.**

**Did I mention that I got so bored on the beach that I brought the entire MR series with me and read the whole thing? Now I'm mad at Fang all over again.**

**And guess what. My dance pictures came in. Our whole class picture is like, amazing, if I do say so myself :D**

**I'm gonna thank a bunch of people cause I missed yooooooou! I'm exausted and loopy.**

**ooo-look-shiny-I went to the boardwalk in Wildwood. If you've ever seen it it's just a big mishmosh of gigundo rides and lights and about a million of the same stores. And it has water rides connecting to it, like a mini water park; I think it's called Ripley's Pier or something like that but I'm not 100% sure. :)**

**StarwarsFaxness WarriorcatsDork-YUSSS I get 45 awesome points. :D**

**Oh and thank you thank you thank you to CeCeOhSoCute, The-Girl-With-The-Black-Wings, and Night Wolf for clearing up my PLL confusion. Seriously, that helped. A lot. :)**

**And thank you to Fowlmaniac for the bacon. It went very well with my Lucky Charms this morning. I know, I eat the healthiest breakfasts evaaarrr. But I love grapes, like I have grapes with every meal so I guess that makes up for it, right? Pfft yeah no, not really. God why do I ramble so much?**

**And I'm kinda getting bored with this story. Like I'm getting bored writing **_**just**_** this. Should I either (a) write a random oneshot, or (b) start a new story completely? Cuz I dunno. I'm just getting kinda bored with this and I think I might end it soon. Like maybe a few more chapters? I dunno. I need opinions. SO PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD DO BECAUSE IT'S COMPLETELY UP TO YOU.**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride. Does James Patterson constantly lose his Capezio dance tights? No. I do. Therefore I do not own Maximum Ride.**

* * *

><p>Mom eyed me suspiciously, almost like she didn't believe me.<p>

"Fang and I are _not_ going out," I said loudly, appalled.

"Don't kid yourself, Max," Ella said, entering the room from the kitchen. She had that annoying-as-hell smirk on her face. "It's pretty obvious."

"In what way?" I growled.

Ella rolled her eyes. "Where should I start? Well, there's the 'I'm babysitting' thing," she offered, putting air-quotes around the _I'm babysitting_ part.

"You mean when we were babysitting Angel on Monday?"

"It was pretty obvious you were going out on a date and not babysitting," Ella said with an unbearable smug grin.

"What?" I shrieked. My voice cranked up a full octave and both Mom and Ella winced at my high-pitched scream.

"Jeez Max, relax!" Ella said, holding her hands up defensively.

"We were babysitting Gazzy's little sister!" I protested. "You can even call his mom and ask."

"Okay, Max," my mom said with a straight face. "You're not dating Fang."

I was pretty sure she was just saying that just to agree with me and calm me down, but whatever.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," I said slowly. "Will you all be mentally stable when I come out?"

"You're so dramatic," Ella muttered as she disappeared into the kitchen again.

"Oh, like you're not," I murmured under my breath as I stomped upstairs. The hot shower helped calm me down and I ended up staying in the shower waaaay longer than I needed too. So long that the hot water ran out and I was standing there shivering, cold and wet again.

So much for the hot shower.

After drying off and getting dressed and yada yada yada, I decided not to go back downstairs. I'd only get mad at Mom and Ella all over again and probably end up breaking something. And then my mom would be all mad and chew me out about it and Ella would look like the cat that ate the canary. No, not going downstairs.

My phone bleeped with a text message and I reached over and flipped it open.

Fang: _What the hell is going on at your house? I heard you shrieking your head off a little while ago._

I sighed and bit my lip.

Max: _Was I honestly that loud? What did you hear?  
><em>Fang: _Yes, you were that loud, and it sounded like 'what?'  
><em>Max: _Whoops  
><em>Fang: _What happened?  
><em>Max: _Nothing.  
><em>Fang: _Yeah, right. We both know that's not true.  
><em>Max: _Whatever you say.  
><em>Fang: _This conversation isn't over.  
><em>Max: _Yes it is, because I'm about to stop texting you.  
><em>Fang: _Max. I _will_ find out.  
><em>Max: _Good luck._

I snapped my phone shut and piled all my pillows from my bed over it. But I could still hear it bleeping with more texts. I counted one, two. . .seven in five minutes. New record. Fang must be really desperate. I still wasn't gonna answer. That's me, stubborn as a bull. Or something.

I flopped down on the floor with absolutely nothing to do. Who knew not going to school could be so boring? It gives you too much time to think. And babble in your head.

So what did I do? I started singing. Just randomly opened my mouth and started singing. Every song I knew the words to came spilling out of my mouth. I lost track of time. I could've been singing for hours. It could've been minutes. It could've been a full day. I just sang and sang and sang until I heard someone calling my name.

"MAX! LUUUUNCH!"

I got up and ran downstairs, almost tripping because I was so stiff from laying on the floor for - I checked the clock - three hours. Daaang. No wonder my back hurt.

"What's for lunch?" I asked. It was barely more than a squeak.

My mom glanced over her shoulder at me. "Huh?"

"What's for lunch? I repeated, slightly louder this time. Still hoarse as all get-out, and I might've lost my voice. Damn it.

Ella started cracking up. "Max lost her voice!"

"Shut up!" Unfortunately it didn't have the desired effect because of my voice being lost, so I whipped a couple oven mitts and dishtowels at her. Seeing her struggling to dodge them and failing and yelling about messing up her hair was enough to lighten my mood and make me crack a smile.

"Girls, quit it. You're acting like you're six." My mom frowned and handed me two plates of grilled cheese. I slid one across the table to Ella and took my regular spot at the table. Ella underestimated the speed of the plate I'd slid to her and had to scramble to catch it, which earned another smile. I would've laughed if I was able to.

"So, Max, what's up with disappearing to the pool at the crack of dawn?" Mom inquired as she sat down with her lunch.

I shrugged and tried to speak around a mouthful of grilled cheesy goodness, and failed. I swallowed and took a drink of water before answering. "I was trying to escape you people," I managed. Ouch. My throat hurt really bad and I was barely loud enough for my mom to hear me.

Mom's lips curved into a smirk. "And you asked Fang to meet you there?"

My expression turned murderous. "No," I growled, but my voice cracked.

"So he was just conveniently at the pool at the same time you were?" Ella asked with patronizing patience.

"Iggy was there, not Fang. Iggy forgot to tell his mom where he was and his mom freaked out and called Fang's mom. And Fang thought he might be at the pool, and he came to check and he was right." I shrugged nonchalantly, even though my throat was raw with pain from a speech that long.

Mom and Ella chewed as they processed my story. I finished my sandwich and gulped down the rest of my water. The coldness was a relief to my sore throat.

"So anywaaaay," I said, drawing out the word. "I'll be upstairs if you need me." I dumped my plate and glass in the sink and whirled back to face the rest of my family. "Please don't need me," I added.

Mom shook her head and smiled. "Whatever you say, Max."

I ran upstairs to my room just in time to hear another bleep from under the pile of pillows. God, what was with him? He was usually the strong and silent Mr. Rock. Now he's turned into Mr. Chatterbox.

I tentatively slipped my hand under the mound of pillows and grabbed my phone. Fifteen new text messages. Woah.

_I'm gonna find out.  
>You can't hide anything from me. I can read you like a book. It's too easy.<br>Might as well tell me.  
>I. WILL. FIND. OUT.<em>

They were all basically the same until about the eleventh text.

_Max I need to tell you something. RIGHT NOW.  
>It's <strong>important.<br>**This is NOT a joke. I really need to talk to you.  
>Answer me, Max.<br>I will eventually just bust into your house if you don't answer._

My stomach knotted uncomfortably. What was so important? With unsteady fingers, I pulled up Fang's number and hit the CALL button. He picked up on the first ring. Never a good sign. Fang was lazy when it came to picking up the phone.

"Max." Fang sounded tense and upset.

"What happened?" Ugh, my voice was so. . .lost!

"Your voice sounds weird," Fang commented. "And I need to tell you in person. Can I break into your house?"

"Yeah, whatever. I'm upstairs in my room. Just tell my mom you have something extremely urgent to tell me so she won't give you any crap. Make sure to look like your stomach is exploding so she'll know to just say go on up," I advised.

"Got it. On my way." The line disconnected and I shut my phone and tossed it on the pile of pillows. I had nothing to do but pace while I waited for Fang to get here. I kept up a steady rhythm as I paced my room. Eventually I heard footsteps pounding up the stairs.

"Max?" Fang's uncertain voice reminded me that he'd never been in my room before.

"In here," I called. My voice was too quiet. I opened my door and motioned for Fang to come in.

Fang didn't even glance once at my room as he followed me in and stood in front of me where I was sitting on my bed. "I have to tell you something," he stated unnecessarily.

"Yeah, I got that," I squeaked. Fang actually cracked a smile at my squeaky voice.

"How'd you lose your voice?"

"Singing for three hours."

"Jeez."

"Get to this oh-so-important something you have to tell me," I said, irritated by now.

Fang took a deep breath, and something about his expression made my stomach twist over and do a double back handspring.

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><p><strong>Muah-ah-ah. I'm so evil. You're gonna have to wait to find out what Fang's big news is! -cackles hysterically-<strong>

**OH AND PLEASE READ - If you didn't see read the note at the top (I don't blame you, I ramble a lot), I'm getting bored with this story. Should I;  
>A) Just keep going. No biggy.<br>B) Write a random one-shot.  
>C) Start another story and test my story-juggling skillzzzz.<br>D) End this in five chapters or so?  
>IT'S COMPLETELY UP TO YOU. YES, YOU, SITTING THERE WITH YOUR HAND ON THE MOUSE SCROLLING LIKE A MANIAC. YOU HAVE THE POWERRR! SO PLEASE CLICK THAT LIL' REVIEW BUTTON DOWN THERE AND TELL ME.<strong>

**And if you review I'll try to get another chapter up with Fang's big news tomorrow. :)**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	25. Didn't See That One Coming

**I love you guys. Almost 50 reviews just on one chapter? asdfghjkl you're amazing.**

**I'm getting mixed opinions on the keep going/end story/new story thing, so I'll just keep going and end it when I hit a brick wall. And then I'll write a new one. So if that doesn't sound good then feel free to message me or something with a different option.**

**I'm trying to shorten my notes. I'm getting better, see? :)**

**Disclaimer: Me no own Maximum Ride.**

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><p>"Okay, so. . ." Fang sighed and ran a hand through his hair.<p>

"If you don't get to the point I'm going to have to torture you endlessly until you talk," I growled. Once again, the menacing tone of my voice was completely ruined.

"Well, I was having lunch with my mom today. It was just the two of us because my dad was taking Nudge to the library to find some book for class."

"Get. To. The. Freaking. Point," I pushed.

"Anyway, my mom and I were just talking like normal, and then all the sudden she got this look on her face. Like she was upset or something. And she told me. . ." Fang's voice trailed off, but something about his expression told me not to keep pushing for information and just let him work up to it. Fang took another deep breath. "She told me that. . .we're moving."

"_WHAT?_" I used every drop of my voice I had left, if that was possible. Why did bombs like this keep getting dropped on my life? This wasn't happening. No. No. Nononono. Not Fang! Fang was my best friend in the world. If I didn't have him there to keep me sane everyday I would shrivel up in a corner and become an unmoving blob. It sounds so dramatic, but I don't think I could live without Fang. I relied on Fang. He was my rock. If he was gone then. . .my mind shorted out. No. I wouldn't think about that.

"Deep breaths. Calming breaths." Fang's voice broke through my train of thought (or rather, train of panicked ramblings.) He was sitting next to me now, rubbing my back in gentle, soothing circles. This was a perfect example of how I depended on Fang. He calmed me down. To my _extreme_ horror, tears overflowed my eyes and made two wet tracks down my cheeks.

"Max, Max, it's okay," Fang assured me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I just nodded into his shoulder and sobbed. I would miss him so much. Would I ever see him again?

"What if I never see you again?" I whispered, horrified. I was surprised he could hear me at all, because my voice was so weak and squeaky.

"You will," he said. "I promise. Even if we move to Europe. I'll buy a plane ticket every weekend and come see you. I promise you that."

"How far away are you moving?" I asked, closing my eyes. I was terrified of the answer, but I still wanted to hear it.

"I don't know yet. My mom is still looking for a house. We have until January, I think. If it gets to January my mom will stop looking for a house for a little while," Fang explained miserably.

"This sounds really bad, but I hope you don't find a house," I said, and a tiny bubble of laughter escaped me in the midst of all my tears.

I felt Fang's chest vibrate with a chuckle. "Me too."

We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before I broke it by whispering, "I'm really gonna miss you."

Fang smoothed my hair comfortingly. "You might not have to."

I shook my head in disgust. "I should be the one comforting you, and telling you the kids in your new school will be nice. Instead you're stuck comforting me."

He shrugged. "I don't mind. I hadn't really though anything of it."

I frowned. "I'm a bad friend."

"Don't ever say that. You're my best friend in the world, Max."

I smiled faintly. "If you say so."

"I do say so."

"Okay. Bestie."

"Did you just call me your bestie?" Fang looked amused.

I punched his arm. "Deal with it. Bestie."

"Do _not_ call me bestie."

"Okay, Fangles."

"Better."

I cracked up. Fang had the uncanny ability to make me laugh my brains out when I didn't even feel like smiling.

I would miss that so much.

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><p><strong>Dang. Probably the shortest chapter I've ever written. Sorry bout that, but I did promise to get another chapter up tonight if you guys reviewed, and woah, you guys reviewed. :) The next chapter will be longer. Promise.<strong>

**DAMN IT! I'm bleeding. I hate that! Looking down at my arm and just randomly finding blood on my arm and I'm like wtf did I do to my arm? Oh Lord. You're probably so sick of me.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	26. Handy Target

**OVER THREE HUNDRED REVIEWS ASDFGHJKL ONCE AGAIN YOU'RE ALL AMAAAAZING.**

**Mmkay, so I stopped and thought today and I was like, "I haven't written a chapter in Fang's POV in a while." And so I decided, what the hey, why not get Fang's take on things? Blahaha. (Yes I say that instead of bahaha. I hate it when people say bahaha. So does my friend. So we made up blahaha instead.)**

**Ouch. I'm catsitting. My cat doesn't like the kitten I'm catsitting. She scratched me when I was holding her too close to the other cat. Greaaaat ._.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: Hmm, 'Maximum Ride, A Novel by James Patterson.' James Patterson is not me. I do not own Maximum Ride.**

* * *

><p>Fang POV <strong>( :D )<strong>

After Max had finished crying her eyes out, the shoulder of my t-shirt was soaked and her eyes were red.

"Sorry," she sniffled.

I rolled my eyes. "No prob. It's part of the 'best-friend' job description." I stood up. "I gotta get back home. I'll see you later, okay?"

"No!" she shouted, then lowered her voice. "If you're moving soon, we're making the most out of the time we have left. We are going to go to the park and you're going to love it!" She got up and started looking around her cluttered closet for something.

"And if I don't love it?"

"Rot in the pits of Bacon-less Land."

"That exists?"

"Yeah. A.K.A., your kitchen if ou don't cooperate."

I gasped in fake horror. "I'll do whatever you say."

"That's more like it." She turned around with a smirk. "Think fast!" She tossed something at me and I ducked and heard it hit the wall with a thunk. The object bounced off the wall and landed on my head. Max started cracking up and leaned against the wall for support. I glared at her and rubbed my head. "That was priceless!" Max cackled. Still glaring, I tackled her and started tickling her, like I always did when she started throwing stuff at me. It was a pretty handy tool for her torture.

"Stop!" Max gasped between giggles. "I'll do whatever you say!"

I smirked and backed off, holding out a hand to help her up. She glared at me but grabbed my hand and yanked herself to her feet. She promptly shoved me aside and grabbed the object she'd tossed at my head. It was a soccer ball.

"You know how to play soccer, right Fangy?" She turned and grinned evilly at me.

"Uh, I guess?"

"You'll be the goalie," Max decided.

"Why me?"

"Your head is a handy target."

I groaned. "Why are the dark and silent always picked on?"

"Not all the 'dark and silent' population are tortured. You're just fun to throw stuff at."

I just shook my head and stole the soccer ball from her. "Let's get this over with."

"Gladly." Max took the soccer ball back. "C'mon."

* * *

><p>Max POV (<strong>I'm already bored with Fang's POV. :P Sorry<strong>)

Turns out Fang was actually a pretty good goalie. Yes, I did manage to hit him a few times, but he caught most of my shots. A few went into the net. However, when we switched positions, I caught every single shot except for one that went over the top of the net.

I squinted, watching the ball arc through the air and land on the other side of the street and roll into the parking lot by the playground equipment. I turned back to Fang. "You're getting that."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Fang grumbled, jogging across the street. I tapped my foot impatiently and tipped my head up to look at the sky just as a drop of water landed on my cheek. I sighed but felt partially excited at the same time. I loved rain. Rain calmed me down. When I was a little kid, I had never run hiding under my bed when I saw lightning flash or heard thunder rumble. I actually sat at the door and watched the big fat raindrops make _plop_ noises that made little wet marks on the cement.

Suddenly I heard a sound, like footsteps, over by the cold metal bleachers. Instinctively, I whipped around to face the sound, hands semi-raised defensively, my body bent into an automatic semi-crouch. I didn't hear the sound again, but that didn't mean nothing was back there.

I know what you're thinking. Don't go back there, Max! Yeah, yeah. The part in the horror movie where the dumber-than-dumb hero investigates the strange noise and gets killed horribly. Whatever. That was so cliche. Besides, I wasn't actually afraid, just curious. Okay, well maybe I was a little scared. But mostly the curiousity was killing me.

I made my decision and slowly crept toward the bleachers. The raindrops were coming down faster now, making mini-puddles in the grooves in the metal. I reached the edge of the bleachers, crouching at the lowest seat and peering into the bleachers. Unfortunately for me, there wasn't much to be seen because of the growing darkness. I glanced over my shoulder at the sky; it was getting darker by the second. There was definitely gonna be a full-blown storm. I turned around and dropped to a crawl, swiftly crossing to the other side of the bleachers. I squinted into the darkness, looking hard. After a couple seconds my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I could see better, though I could still barely see three yards in front of me. I scanned the area under the bleachers. Nothing to be found, other than a surprising amount of gum stuck to the bottom of the bleacher seats. Bo-ring. I backed away from the bleachers and straightened up just as a hand clamped down on my shoulder and I screamed my most blood-chilling scream.

"Max! Max, relax! It's just me!" Fang had to struggle to speak over my screaming, and he definitely looked freaked. I stopped screaming, but I was shaking and breathing hard. I had learned when I was little, that when someone surprises you, you should scream, because it would most likely surprise them enough to throw them off guard. It was a pretty handy tool in warding off Ella with her Barbies obsession when I was ten and she was nine.

"What's wrong?" Fang demanded.

"Nothing. You just caught me off guard." Not a lie.

One side of his mouth quirked up. "That's a pretty good accomplishment. Gazzy can't walk within ten yards of you without you knowing it."

"Don't let it go to your head. And Gazzy is pretty easy to identify, because of his trademark. . .scent."

"Gazzy was just an example. Ella and Nudge and Iggy and Tess and everyone else - they can't sneak up on you," he pointed out smugly.

"Were you _trying_ to sneak up on me?"

He smirked. "_No_. So, points for me."

"I didn't know we were keeping score."

"We are now."

I just shook my head. "Let's go home. I'm cold."

Fang automatically shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to me for the second time that day. It was just a brother instinct for Fang - whenever he was cold, he gave me his jacket. I would never admit it to him or anyone else, but I thought it was kinda sweet. Plus, his jacket smelled really good. I'd never admit that, either. I slid on Fang's black -surprise, surprise - leather jacket and rolled up the sleeves a little so only my hands poked out. Fang's jacket was way too big on me.

"Care to explain _why_ you were behind the bleachers?"

"Nope," I said cheerfully, popping the p.

He sighed. "You're a handfull, you know that?"

I smiled. "Yes, but I'm your handfull."

He laughed and put his arm around my shoulders. "That you are."

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><p><strong>Aww I like when Fang is sweet. He's like, a soft rock. See what I did thaar? Hehe.<strong>

**And for anyone watching The Nine Lives of Chloe King.. am I the only one that absolutely despises Brian. I mean just ugh. Alyec is like ten times hotter and better for Chloe and UUUUGHH.**

**Oh and guess what. I had to get two shots today. -_- I mean, I was watching what the nurse lady was doing, and I didn't know I was getting the shots. So all the sudden she wiped off my arm with the gauze thingy and then BAM! Six inch needle in my arm. I was like asdfghjkl. Usually I look away, cause I'm such a baby like that. But I got no warning at all. And afterwards the lady goes 'Oh and side effects may be a sore arm and a fever.' Should that really kick in so quickly? I mean I feel like my arm's gonna fall off.**

**Oh and review review review :) If you write a super awesome review I'll put you in my note in the beginning :D To limit my rambling. I'd just be like, HEY YOU HAVE THE AWESOMEST REVIEW EVAAAAR. Doesn't that sound exciting? Naaah.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	27. Stay A While

**Oh, hai dere (:**

**Oh and someone asked me a couple chapters ago what kind of dance I take and I never answered. I'm in hip hop 2 at the moment. But I was previously in ballet.**

**And to Xx-ThisSucks-xX, you made me crack up. Yes, Brian should most definitely go kiss a cat. And did Brian risk his life to save Chloe? Nope. And his dad is trying to kill her. Call me crazy, but he sounds like an evil bastard to me.**

**Oh yeah, and you know how I said if you wrote the awesomest review I'd mention you? Yes I know that's stupid. But if I didn't do it I'd feel like I broke a promise. And I hate that feeling :(**

**So, the awesomest review was from DanceLikeNobodyIsWatching1997. (: And yaay, finally another dancer on here! Haha I'm not alone (: And I started cracking up at "Rolling on the floor. LIKE A BOSS!" LMAO :D**

**Everyone's begging me to not make Fang move. So okay, I won't make him move. LOL NO JK YOU HAVE TO READ AND FIND OUT. Am I evil? I feel evil.**

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns it all, not me.**

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><p>Let me tell you, that rain was coming down <em>hard<em>. It turned everything into a runny, muddy mess. Eventually the mud overflowed and ran down the curbs, adding some slippery mud to the already slippery pavement.

I had already slipped once, and it had been beyond humiliating. One, because it made me feel like I had no coordination whatsoever, and two, it got me even more wet than I already was. So now I had to cling to Fang if I wanted to stay on my feet. Which was extremely embarassing because Fang liked to make jokes that he knew would embarass me. I swear, you could just name him The Reason For Max's Gray Hairs. Literally. I could feel a gray hair coming on.

"Aww, isn't this romantic. You hanging on to me while we walk through the pouring rain. Now, this is a walk to remember."

Despite my embarassment, I laughed. "You read Nicolas Sparks?"

"My sister watched the movie six times."

"You're a dork. And that line was so corny."

He grinned. "I know."

"I cried when I watched A Walk to Remember," I admitted.

His grin became wider. "You're kidding."

"Nope," I said sheepishly. "I cried even harder when I watched Titanic."

"Now I have blackmail to hold over your head," he said, still grinning broadly. I mentally compared this smiling Fang to the dark, impassive Fang I had met a month ago. When he first started smiling around me, I remember feeling like the smile was out of place on his face because he never smiled.

"Tell anyone and you die," I promised.

"I highly doubt you could."

"That I could what?"

"Kill me."

"Don't underestimate me," I warned. "Common mistake."

"Yeah, Max, but you're not capable of killing." He paused and reconsidered. "Well, at least not capable of killing _me_."

"What makes you think that?" I sniffed indignantly. Yeah, sure, I'd never in a million years dream of actually killing Fang - just the thought made me shudder. But it annoyed me how it seemed like he was almost challenging my ability to do so. That sounds so weird. Him challenging my ability to kill. Like, hello, I'm not a murderer! We shouldn't even be having this conversation.

Fang stoppped so of course I had to stop too, because I was clinging to him for dear life. He used the hand that wasn't firmly wrapped around my waist and tilted my face up so I was forced to stare into his dark eyes. "I'm not questioning your ability to kill anything or anyone with your bare hands - I've seen you when you're mad." He shook his head. "More like, you wouldn't be able to kill someone close to you."

"I don't know why we're talking about this," I grumbled. "I'd never think of killing anyone that's like family to me. Hell, I'd never think of killing anyone, ever."

"Exactly," he said, his lips curling into a smile. Was it bad that my eyes were immediately pulled down to his mouth and I suddenly wanted him to kiss me? Yes, very bad. I banished the thoughts from my brain and turned my head away from Fang. I could feel the blush creeping into my cheeks, so I kept my head turned down to the ground.

I felt Fang's hand under my chin again, and again my head was tilted up and my eyes met his. He smiled. "It's so adorable when you blush."

I scowled at him, struggling to keep at least a shred of dignity. I was not a huge blusher, and it was annoying as hell when someone pointed it out. Wait, scratch that. I hadn't been a huge blusher before I met Fang. Then pretty much all the rules of my life seemed to be altered. It felt like I was stuck out in the ocean and a huge wave had just hit me. I could struggle against it, but it did no good. I could just fold myself up and let myself be carried, even though it was painful, being battered against the ocean floor. That was a pretty spot-on description for my life lately.

"What's wrong?" Fang asked gently.

"I hate when I blush," I growled.

Fang smiled and brushed his thumb against my cheek. "Trust me, it's really adorable. Gives you this little rosy glow."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Soul of a poet?"

He grinned, sensing I was over my little fit. "That's me."

I sighed and kept walking. I was soaking wet and my hair was plastered uncomfortably to my neck and water was actually dripping off the tip of my nose and eyelashes. There was actually water in my shoes and I could feel the squishiness with each step. It made me want to whip off my shoes and walk home barefoot. The _squish squish squish_ that each step made was unnerving and I found myself wanting to scream at my feet to kindly cut it out and shut up and give me some peace and quiet.

It was taking forever to get home. We had walked the five short blocks in fifteen minutes on the way to the park, and only a couple more to find the soccer field. But we were already way past the fifteen-minute mark and we were still about two blocks from our street. Yeah, yeah, slow and steady wins the race. How about, 'slow and steady makes the walk home half an hour when it should've taken fifteen minutes.' I mean, talk about annoying.

"What're you thinking about?" Fang asked quietly, breaking me out of my annoyed thoughts.

"Um, how cold and wet I am. And how ridiculously long it's taking us to get home."

His eyes twinkled. "You're very predictable. I could just tell by the look on your face that you were annoyed by something."

"I'm not predictable," I contradicted. "You just know me too well."

"I s'pose," Fang said dismissively.

I tilted my head so I could rest my head on his shoulder. Was it just me, or was my head feeling heavier because of my soaked hair? "You know me better than anyone else," I mused.

"Better than your family?" He sounded surprised.

"Yeah." I paused. "You know earlier today, when you heard me screaming my head off?" I said hesitantly.

"You still haven't told me what was going on."

"Yeah, well, I was screaming at my mom and Ella."

"About?"

I frowned. "They. . .assume things too quickly."

"What did they assume?"

I took a deep, steadying breath before answering. "They said that they thought we were going out. And I got mad because Ella thought we were on a date when we were babysitting Angel. It just got me mad how they assumed stuff so quickly without waiting to hear me out." I lowered my eyes to the wet ground.

I felt Fang's chest rumble with a chuckle. "And what was so bad about telling me that?"

I frowned again. "I dunno."

Shockingly, he didn't comment on it more than that. Usually he would use that to embarass me all over again and get me mad only to apologize again and tell me I'm 'adorable' with rosy cheeks.

Long, boring story made short, sweet, simple story, it took us a really long time to get home. We were laughing and soaking wet by the time we got to my doorstep. I paused at the door and turned to Fang.

"You can come in, you know. Get dried off and stuff. You can call your mom and let her know where you are."

"Sure." His smile made me weak in the knees and I had to turn away to avoid looking like a total goofy idiot.

* * *

><p><strong>Third Person POV<strong>

The door slowly creaked open and the Director looked up in interest. A tall man with sandy hair stood in the doorway. His 'under cover' clothes were soaked and were dripping all over the thick carpet.

The Director stood up with a warm smile, ready to recieve the information he was about to give her. Once she had all the info she needed, she would pull the strings. She would have the power conduct what she knew was going to be the most successful experiment ever.

"Did you get the information?" the Director asked greedily.

The man paused before answering. "No," he said and the Director's face morphed into an angry mask, but he continued before she could comment. "I knew they moved to Florida, and Riley figured out the town they were in. So I searched some local places and parks, places that kids would go. I didn't find Subject One, Two, Three, Four, Five, or Six." He bowed his head against the scolding he knew was coming.

"I expect better work of you next time, Dr. Batchelder," the Director said harshly.

Jeb's head was down so far his chin touched his chest. "Yes," he mumbled flatly.

"Search again tomorrow. Bring the new interns. Throw the net wider. You can find them if you _try_."

"I know," he said dutifully.

"You're dismissed," the Director said, sitting down behind her desk. Her phone rang at that precise moment. "Hello? . . .What do you mean, 'there was a complication'? . . .And how did this magically occur? . . .Well, I can't deal with everything! Call Riley. He'll know what to do."

Jeb turned and left the room without another word. He wondered if the Director knew that he was lying. That he'd found Max and her friends and he'd even hidden under the bleachers in the park, watching Max and Subject Two, who was supposedly called Fang, play soccer. Then Fang had taken off to fetch something and he'd gotten up to leave. Only he stepped onto crunchy gravel and Max immediately heard the noise and went to investigate. If Fang had showed up even a second later, Max would've found him and everything he knew.

But he couldn't simply hand Max over to the Director. She was planning to graft wings on to Max. He had only agreed to the search for the chance to see his daughters again, after who knows how many years.

But Jeb had the sneaking suspicion that the interns wouldn't be so willing to lie for him. They'd find Max and everyone else and turn them over to the Director, no matter how hard he tried to stop them or keep it a secret.

Tomorrow would be disastrous.

* * *

><p><strong>I kinda just threw in that bit at the end as a last-minute thought. I didn't think the chapter was long enough without it. It's not even long enough with it, but you know, that's just how it is.<strong>

**Hehe, see what I did there? That's Just How It Is. Because that's the - you know what? It doesn't even matter.**

**And I've been thinking. . .if I end this soon, would you want me to make a sequel? Because I'm not even sure where I'm going with this but I have a good feeling about it. And I feel like jamming it all into one story would be too much.**

**Oh, and my cousin just started reading Maximum Ride. He just finished The Angel Experiment and we were talking about it.  
>Cousin; I really don't like Ari. I was happy when he died.<br>Me; Yeah, well, I don't either. But you might like him later.  
>Cousin; But he's dead.<br>Me; So?  
>Cousin; If that was a spoiler -<br>Me; Fu-  
>Cousin; I hate you.<br>hehehehehehe.**

**And I'm reading the Pretty Little Liars book series and I just found out who A was and my mind was like WHUT? As my friend would say, mindfuck. Sorry about her language.**

**This was waaaay longer than it needed to be.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	28. Boot Camp

**That awkward moment when you see that one of your favorite fics was updated and you have a mini excited spaz attack at your computer.**

**I'm so cool, I know.**

**I almost deleted this off the document manager and I don't have it saved on my computer anymore. OOPS. Lmao that was close.**

**And guess what? New favorite show; Dance Moms. All dancers on here; you might wanna watch it. Lmao it's CRAZY. These girls can bend themselves into pretzels, and they're **_**nine**_**. They're like, winning national competitions. And they got upset when they won third. I'm like dude, when my team wins third I'm like EFFYEAH. Lol and if my dance teacher was as mean as this lady? I'd cry. Lmao. Oh, and it's a reality show.**

**I have a joke for you. It's really bad.  
>Guy 1: Did you hear about the butter?<br>Guy 2: No.  
>Guy 1: Well then, I butter not tell you.<br>Guy 2: . . .why?  
>Guy 1: You might. . . spread it.<br>xD Horrible, I know.**

**I like turtles, because they're awkward, like me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, okay?**

* * *

><p>Max POV<p>

"Mom! I'm home!" I yelled, shaking the water out of my hair like a dog. Fang chuckled but did the same.

My mom appeared from the kitchen, oven mitts still on her hands. When she caught sight of Fang a sly smile wormed across her face but she managed to smother it before I started another shriek fest. "Hello Max, Fang," my mom greeted, barely containing a smug grin.

"Hello Ms. Martinez," Fang said pleasantly. I elbowed him. How come he was the good little schoolboy with my mom, but he was this little devil with me? Sensing my irritation, Fang shot me a grin but turned back to my mom with a polite smile.

"I was just making dinner," Mom said. "Spaghetti. You're welcome to stay, Fang."

"Thank you," Fang said, still keeping up the oh-so-polite charade. "Would it be okay if I called my mom to let her know where I am?"

"You can do that upstairs," I growled, looping my hand around his elbow and tugging him upstairs. Once we were out of earshot, I turned to him in exasperation. "I don't even know what to do with you."

"What? I can be polite when I want to."

"Oh, so you don't _want to_ be polite to me?"

Fang bowed like an old-time gentleman and I had to struggle to not crack up. "May I escort you to your chamber, m'lady?"

I giggled. "That's just weird." I turned to walk into my room, but Fang caught my shoulder and spun me around to face him again. I raised my eyebrows at him, and he held out his elbow to me, keeping up the stupid 'polite' thing. "Seriously?" I laughed. Fang just grabbed my arm and threaded it through his, and walked me to my room. "Cut it out," I managed to say between giggles.

"What? You said you wanted me to be polite."

"I never said that. I just asked you _why_ you're never polite to me."

He shrugged and grinned. "That's no fun."

I sighed. "Right. Of course." Water was dripping off my clothes and soaking the floor around me, so I quickly took off Fang's jacket and tossed it to him. "Here. I don't want it anymore. It's wet." Fang caught it and grumbled something under his breath that I didn't hear. Grinning, I turned to my closet and grabbed some sweats and a t-shirt. I turned back to Fang. "You - out. I'm changing." He rolled his eyes but silently complied, leaving my room and shutting the door behind him.

Man, my clothes were soaked. It felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. I slid them off and replaced them with the comfy, dry, warm sweats and t-shirt. That was ten times better. I sighed happily and scooped up my wet clothes and opened the door.

"You can come in now," I said to Fang. "I'm just gonna toss these downstairs for my mom to wash." Fang ducked into my room and I tossed my clothes down the stairs and turned back to him. "Hmm," I murmured. "We don't really have any extra clothes in the house that would fit you." I ducked around him and grabbed some spare jeans from my bed. "Here - hold these up and see if they fit you."

Fang gave me a look but held up the jeans against his waist. His legs were way too long for them, and his waist was bigger than mine by quite a few inches. I started cracking up, imagining him in my jeans. Fang gave me the Glare of Death and threw the jeans at me.

"Well," I gasped when I was finally done laughing. "I think we have some clothes that used to be. . ." A familiar ache filled my stomach and I unconciously wrapped an arm around myself, as if to dull the pain. "We might have some clothes that used to belong to. . ." I took a deep breath. "My dad."

Fang's eyes were understanding. "Hey, whatever works."

I took another deep breath and nodded. "Well, let's go then."

We found my dad's old sweatpants and ratty t-shirts in the deepest corner of my mom's closet, still in a beat-up cardboard box. Fang ducked into the bathroom and changed, and by the time he was done, my mom was calling us for dinner.

"Call your mom," I ordered, putting my hands on my hips and tapping my foot. I could be a dictator when I wanted to, even though I was several inches shorter than him.

"I will. Go ahead and I'll be down there in a sec."

I shrugged. "Whatever." I started to turn and walk out of the room, but Fang's hand caught mine and I turned around expectantly. He tugged me closer and unexpectedly kissed my forehead.

"Thanks," he said softly, leaning his forehead against mine.

"No problem," I replied, even though I wasn't quite sure what he was thanking me for. I could feel the surprise on my face. Would I _ever_ get used to this? I smiled slightly and pulled away. "Call your mom," I suggested over my shoulder as I left. He nodded and pulled out his cell phone.

When I got downstairs, Mom and Ella already had their plates loaded and were watching the doorway expectantly. When I walked though, alone, their faces lit up, but fell once they realized Fang wasn't following me like he usually was. He was kind of baby-duck like. Nah, not really. But it was sweet how he always let me lead.

"Where's Faaaang?" Ella said flirtily, drawing his name out.

"Calling his mom," I replied calmly, flinging spaghetti onto my plate. I was trying to keep a tight hold on my temper, but if they pushed me too hard, they would be dealing with a pretty messy kitchen.

Ella snickered. Mom was trying to smother her grin. "Were you at least polite? Did you offer him some dry clothes?"

"Yes, Mom. I gave him Ella's shirt. The one from last year's school picture."

Ella's face darkened. "What?" she snapped. "Why didn't you give him one of your shirts? I mean, he's cute, I'll give him that, but-"

There was a tiny cough from the doorway. Everyone turned to see Fang standing there, looking majorly uncomfortable. Mom and Ella looked mortified, but I cracked up, and so did Fang. We were bent over at the waist, laughing with tears running down our faces while Mom and Ella looked confused and red-faced.

I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Get over here and eat your spaghetti," I ordered. Fang obediently walked over and took a plate, filling it up with spaghetti. I gaped at him.

"What?" he demanded defensively.

"You actually listened to me!" I cheered. I turned to Mom and Ella. "Guys, celebrate! Fang _does_ listen, sometimes!"

Ella looked confused. "No thanks, Max," she said in a controlled voice. "Some of us are civilized."

I gave her a look. "Some of us are really boring," I retorted, sitting down across from her with my plate. Fang sat down next to me silently. I tried to stifle a sigh of irritation as I realized that Ella and Mom had probably set that up. Usually I sat next to Mom and Ella sat on one side alone, because she tended to use more space with all her table-setting than was actually necessary. I mean, on pizza night she always folds a napkin next to her plate and puts it on her lap to eat.

"Some of us are immature," Ella shot back, winding spaghetti around her fork.

"Some of us have really back comebacks," I said smugly.

"Oh, you mean like you," Ella said.

I let my fork clatter to the table. Things had just gotten serious. Okay, so first things first. I was the _queen_ of bad-ass remarks. And although they usually got me in trouble, no one had any comebacks to match mine. And No. One. Dared say my comebacks were bad.

"Alright, enough," Mom said, a slight edge of hysteria in her voice. "Let's settle down, shall we?"

"We're perfectly 'settled', Mom," I said sweetly, still staring Ella down. She stared right back until I felt someone kick me under the table. OW. "Ella!" I whined.

She looked confused. "What?"

"Quit kicking me," I said flatly.

"But-" She looked back and forth, from me to Fang, and a sly smile crossed her features. "Sorry, Max," she said in a sickly sweet voice.

Confused, I snuck a look at Fang, who was grinning at me. I felt someone kick me again, and it was definitely Fang. I scowled and built up power in my foot, flinging it sideways into Fang's leg. He winced but didn't comment, and I turned back to my food triumphantly.

"Oh, Max!" Ella said brightly. I was slightly suspicious because this time she wasn't faking; the excitement seemed sincere. "I didn't get to tell you this earlier, because you've kinda been out of the house lately. . ." She arched her eyebrows seriously at me. "But you know your friends, the ones you sit with at lunch? Carolyn, J.J., Tess, and Nudge?"

"Yeah," I said slowly.

"Well, turns out they all took cheerleading camp for a couple years. We all decided to sign up for the winter cheerleading team, because I did it in Montana, and we signed you up too!" she announced cheerily.

I dropped my fork again, except this time it was the only noise in the dead silence. After several minutes of silence, I forced myself to speak. "What?" I said, my voice deadly calm.

Ella's smile was unbearably calm yet smug. "You heard me."

"I was kind of hoping I didn't," I said murderously.

Ella shrugged as if nothing was wrong. Boy, was she in for it.

I stood up, slowly and carefully. Ella saw my face and scraped her chair across the floor, bolting from the room like a maniac. I was close behind her, and we were both screaming our heads off at each other. Ella wove in and out of all the rooms down stairs until finally stomping up the stairs and running into her room. She almost had the door closed on me, but I braced my shoulder against it and forced it open. Ella shrieked and ducked past me, but I was closer to her now. She ran downstairs again, racing for the family room. I was close on her tail until two arms shot out in front of me and intercepted me easily.

I almost fell, but Fang yanked me into the kitchen and held me firmly against his chest while I kicked and screamed at Ella, profanity pouring out of my mouth like it was a faucet. I'll spare you the details of what was actually said, but let's just say Ella learned a few new words.

Boy, I was really gonna lose my voice for real this time. When I finally screamed my frustration out of my system, Ella peeked in from the other doorway leading to the laundry room. I was still seething, but slightly calmer. Fang seemed kinda scared, but he had his arms firmly locked around mine, as if we were wrestling, holding me in place. My back was against his chest, so I couldn't see his face.

It was several minutes before I trusted myself enough to speak without continuing my rants of profanity. "Ella Martinez, my darling sister, sometimes I wish something would eat you," I said calmly.

Mom actually cracked a smile. "Take her upstairs," she said to Fang, as if he were a dog trainer on Dog Whisperer and I was a misbehaved Chihuahua. Ha, I could just imagine the trailers now. _Next week, Fang takes on an easily angered Chihuahua who was entered in a cheerleading contest by her sister. Will he manage to calm her and prepare her for the competition?_ Oh, ugh. My life sucks.

I felt Fang nod and he simply lifted me up by my arms and turned to take me upstairs. "Put me down or you're next," I threatened. Fang put me down carefully and released my arms, only to spin me around and grab me firmly by the shoulders.

"No inflicting serious injuries," he said seriously.

"I'll try," I sighed.

"Trying isn't good enough," he said with a smirk.

"Yes it is," I said stubbornly. I wrenched my shoudlers free of his hands with one simple twist, and ducked to the ground on instinct. I rolled away like a ninja or something, backing myself against the wall. When Fang turned to grab me again, I stood up and turned my shoulders slightly at the last second so his hands barely brushed my shoulder.

Fang gave me a serious look and came for me again. He reached out to grab me by the waist this time, but I twisted away in the knick of time. This was way too fun.

"See, Max?" I heard Ella say. I turned to her with murder in my eyes. She had a chair in her hands, ready to use it as a weapon as needed. "You have good reflexes. And you're light, which probably means you'll be a flier."

"Not even remotely a possibility," I said coldly. "I'm quitting."

Ella shook her head vigorously. "You can't. Coach Morris is _strict_. She says that if you're brave enough to put your name on the sheet, you're brave enough to stick with your decision and give it all you've got."

"Ella, can you see me as a cheerleader?"

She shrugged. "Well, not in the skirt and such, but doing the moves and being a flier, yes, I can."

I shook my head. "No."

Ella gave me a sarcastic look. She'd inherited that from me. "Do a roundoff, Max."

I pushed Fang out of the limited space I had in our surprisingly roomy family room. I settled into position and executed the quick roundoff. (**A/N: Is it bad that I just blanked on the spelling of position for five minutes? Literally.**) My feet would probably be aching tomorrow from the hardness of the floor.

"And you're really good at back handsprings and you're a natural tumbler, Max," Ella blabbered on triumphantly. "We can invite over J.J. and Carolyn and Tess and Nudge and all practice our stunts and tumbling sometime." Ella was gaining enthusiasm as she went on.

I held up a hand to stop the rant. "El, you keep forgetting that I'm not actually going through with this. I have homework and all that, and since there's no gymnastics classes in this town, I'm going to start taking acro soon, because it's the next best thing. And I'm trying out for the spring volleyball team. So, I honestly can't go through with this," I reasoned.

"Max, you're bad at making excuses," Ella chided. "First of all, you handle your homework just fine. Second, acro will only _help_ you excell at cheer. And third, the volleyball team doesn't start until spring, so you're good. Winter cheer will be over by then." She beamed at her logic.

I sighed. "Is there any way to worm out of this?"

Ella's smile widened. "Nope."

I sighed. "Fine!" I cried, flopping down on the couch in exasperation. "But you are _not_ allowed to bug me about dressing me up for the whole winter. I gave in for cheerleading, and I'm not giving in to dress up," I said stubbornly.

"EEK!" Ella shouted. "You said yes! You said yes! I'm calling Nudge!" Ella turned and sprinted upstairs to her room.

There was a pause, and then Mom said from the kitchen, "You crazy teens."

* * *

><p>After we finished helping Mom clean up dinner, Fang had to go. For once, Ella and Mom were occupied with something else, and they weren't there to watch me say bye to Fang.<p>

"I wish break was over," I sighed, leaning against the wall. "This has without a doubt been the longest day of my life."

"Yeah, for me too." Fang stepped closer and brushed a strand of hair out of my face.

"I just want stuff to return to normal," I continued. "I mean, it sounds weird and stupid, but I just wanna go back to school. I wanna have a continuous routine to follow. Not just waking up and flopping back in bed knowing you have nothing to do but be a bum." I frowned.

Fang chuckled quietly. "You weren't exactly a bum today. You got up at the crack of dawn, met Iggy at the pool, and almost drowned. Then it took us half an hour to walk home, and Iggy stole your bike. Then things were relatively quiet until I heard you screaming your head off and I came over a little while later." His voice faltered a little there but I pretended not to notice. "Then you started throwing sh-uh, stuff at me and we went to the park and played soccer for like an hour before I kicked the stupid thing over by the playground and I came back and it was raining and you were going all CSI by the bleachers. Then-"

"Okay, enough!" I laughed. "I never thought the day would come when I would have to tell you to stop talking."

Fang grinned. He was certainly out of character today. "The day has come."

I sighed. "I know. Why does everything have to change? Why can't the universe decide that everything is perfect just the way it is-well, was." I glanced up at Fang. He was looking at me very seriously.

"This sounds cheesy, but I think that everything happens for a reason. Suppose I move-" I winced noticably, but he continued "-and a talent scout moves into my house. He sees you and Carolyn and everyone going all cheerleader on your front lawn. You all go and compete and win a trophy and become professional cheerleaders. You see what I'm getting at?"

I frowned. "I don't wanna be a professional cheerleader."

He laughed. "That's what I'll miss the most," he said suddenly, his dark eyes serious once again. "How I'll give you something to think about, and you pick the most inconsequential thing and find something that you don't like about it. It makes me laugh every time."

I paused, considering his words. One thing in particular bothered me. "That's what you _will_ miss the most?" I chewed my lip nervously. "What if you _don't_ move?"

He shrugged. "Let me rephrase. What I _would_ miss the most. Better?"

I sighed happily. "Much." He held his arms out and I wrapped my arms around him as tight as I could, savoring it. Let's face it, Fang wasn't the most huggy person in the world.

"Um, ow," he muttered. I smiled and loosened my hold, stepping back to lean against the wall again. Fang smiled crookedly and my heart almost stopped. " 'Night," he said quietly.

"G'night," I replied, just as quiet. As Fang turned and walked out and quietly closed the door behind him, I tried to think about what I would do without him. But every time I tried to think about it, my brain blanked in horror. I just couldn't imagine what it would be like without Fang.

* * *

><p>The next morning I was not woken up by the cheerful chirping of birds, which I would've welcomed. Instead there was a whistle in my ear, and I automatically flung an arm out to hit whoever thought it was acceptable to get me up this early. My hand didn't strike anything, so I groaned and rolled off my bed, landing on the floor with a thud.<p>

"Get up, Ride! This isn't all fluff-and-fun cheerleading! This is hard core!"

I blinked in astonishment, peering up at Ella, who was trying her best to put on a tough face. "Ells, I hate to break it to you, but I don't give a - fladoodle." Yeah. That's what I meant to say. Riiiight. Smooth cover-up, Max.

Ella put her hands on her hips menacingly as I sat up and climbed back in bed. "Seriously, Max. It's eleven a.m. already. Everyone else is in the backyard with the mats ready to practice. You're the only disappointment." She switched to folding her arms across her chest.

I groaned again and pushed off my sheets. "Fine, gimme ten minutes," I said miserably, ambling over to my closet.

Ella was immediately in my face again, baring me from touching my closet. "No no no," she said quickly. "I already chose clothes for you. And you're going to wear them."

"Ella!" I complained. "You promised - no dress up, just cheerleading."

"You never said no dressing you up _for_ cheerleading," Ella said with a wicked glint in her eyes.

"You'll be the death of me, Ella Martinez."

"I'm aware. Now get dressed."

I caught the clothes that Ella tossed at me and examined them critically. Ew. A bright blue tank top layered over a lime green camisole with Ella's gray cheerleading bootie shorts from last year. "I'm not wearing these," I said, tossing the gray shorts on the ground. "I'll wear my own shorts."

"Nononononono," Ella warned, popping up in front of me. "You're wearing the gray. And you should get used to it, because cheerleading skirts aren't exactly knee-length."

"I'm aware of that, Ella!" I snapped, finally pushed to my breaking point. "I don't exactly wanna flash my undies when I pull my leg up to my ear either! I'll wear track shorts." I opened my drawer and held up my favorite navy blue Danskin track shorts. Stretchy and comfortable and inches longer than the other shorts - shudder.

"Fine," Ella said shortly. "Be outside in ten minutes - preferably less. But your hair up in either a bun or a ponytail or a braid. It doesn't matter." She turned and stomped out of my room.

Clearly, my sister takes cheerleading way too seriously.

After putting on Ella's layered tank tops - which were surprisingly comfortable - and my own shorts, I put my hair in a fishtail braid and went downstairs. I slid on the white sneakers that Ella had left at the door for me and slid open the sliding glass doors.

J.J., Tess, Ella, and Nudge were trying to convince Carolyn to go up in a lift. But Carolyn was terrified of falling and breaking her neck, so she was refusing, even though she was the second-lightest in the group besides the toothpick. If you haven't picked up on the fact that I'm the toothpick yet, reread this paragraph. If you have picked up on it, good for you!

"I'm not doing it!" Carolyn cried, exasperated.

"Come on!" Nudge whined.

"I'm here for boot camp," I said gruffly. Everyone whipped around to face me.

"Finally," Tess muttered. I glared playfully at her.

"Max can do the lift," Ella said confidently.

"Did you guys stretch yet?" I challenged critically.

Everyone fidgeted.

"That's what I thought," I said smugly. I dragged my mat to the head of the formation and arranged the other five mats around mine. "Everyone sit," I barked grumpily. I had been woken up way to early and I was in no mood to mess around. Especially because they were stupid enough to forget to stretch. I mean, I'm not a cheerleader, but anyone who does anything active should always know to stretch beforehand. It's a fact.

After leading everyone through approximately eight minutes of stretches, I challenged them to lift their legs to their ears. I had done it several times in gymnastics, to test my flexibility. It was extremely satisfying to be able to pull your leg up, perfectly straight, knee unbent.

"Come on," I coaxed. "You can do it." I put my leg out and demonstrated again. (**A/N: I dunno how other people does this, but I wrap my arm around my leg underneath then tug it up to my ear. That's just how I do it. In dance. For some reason. It has nothing to do with hip hop.**) Ella was the closest, because she'd done cheerleading previously. Nudge was pretty good too, but the other girls didn't have the balance to keep themselves on their feet - well, foot.

"Can we move on?" J.J. begged.

"Fine," I said, smiling widely. "Backbends." A chorus of groans rose from the group. I grinned and easily leaned backwards until my hands connected with the mat. Not everyone could do a backbend - Ella and I were the only ones - but everyone could at least do a bridge. Which is basically the same thing, you just start laying down instead of standing up.

After five more painful minutes of stretching, we were ready. It wasn't so painful on my muscles as it was on my ears - the complaining was hard to listen to.

"Alright, now arrange the mats," Ella said. She was back to being the boot camp director. We arranged the mats into a tight formation in case anything went wrong - Ella's words. I sincerely hoped nothing went wrong, seeing as I would be the one being tossed and caught.

"Okay, so everyone knows how to do a basket toss, right?" Ella said seriously, hands on her hips.

"Yes," everyone said obediently, like baby birds.

"Okay," Ella repeated. "We'll only need four people for this, including Max, so Carolyn, you'll watch, 'cause you're being lifted next." Carolyn started to protest, but Ella simply cut her off with a raised hand. "And does anyone else wanna sit this one out?"

"I only took two years of camp," Tess piped up. "So I'll sit out and watch."

"Alright, I'm gonna interject here," I interrupted. "Is everyone, like, _perfect_ on how to lift and catch someone in this one? Because Ella guilted me into going to two years of cheerleading camp with her in a row, and even more previous years, and I've seen basket tosses go wrong."

"Max, have a little faith," J.J. chimed in.

"I'll be the back spotter," Ella decided. She cut in and moved J.J. and Nudge so they were facing each other. Both locked their hands together to create a secure cradle. I was still a little worried about going up, but at least my bases were good.

"Max, come on," Ella said impatiently, standing behind J.J. and Nudge. I took a deep breath and positioned myself in front of Ella, grabbing hold of J.J. and Nudge's shoulders.

"Wait," I said hysterically. Everyone sighed and straightened up, glaring at me. I turned to face Ella. "Before we do the actual toss, can't we do that exersize that we did to make sure that the flyer is gonna go straight up? The one where I don't actually get tossed, but it's more like just a lift?"

"Oh." Ella's eyes brightened. "Yeah, we should do that." Ella nudged me aside and explained to J.J. and Nudge what we'd be doing. They listened intently and they even practiced what they'd do a few times. Like their position and such. Finally, they waved me over, after what felt like forever. What can I say? I'm an impatient person.

I assumed the same position I had been in before, hands on J.J. and Nudge's shoulders, Ella's hands on my waist. Ella counted off and I gave a tiny push off the ground as Ella assisted me with getting into the cradle. I supported my own weight as much as I could, balancing myself on my friends' shoulders. Ella grabbed my ankles, counted again, and the bases gave a little dip, then brought me up. I let go of their shoulders and locked my knees, raising my arms in a V over my head once I was sure I was steady.

"Bring her down," Ella instructed. I was carefully lowered back down so I could grab hold of J.J. and Nudge's shoulders once again, and Ella helped me get down.

"See, Car?" I said, turning to Carolyn. "You'll be perfectly safe. These two are pretty good bases." I pointed to the subjects of my statement, and they grinned.

"I still don't know if I wanna do it," Carolyn said, her eyes troubled.

I grabbed Carolyn's arm and towed her over to J.J. and Nudge. "You're doing it. I'll even spot you, if you want."

Carolyn looked terrified, but nodded.

"Okay guys, let's do the thing you just did with me, okay? Carolyn, you know what to do? When you can't reach their shoulders anymore, straighten up, lock your knees, and raise your arms." Carolyn bobbed her head again. "Alright, let's do this thing."

Long story short, we basically repeated what we'd just done with me, except I was doing what Ella had done. After that we did a couple basket tosses and we all practiced doing scorpions (on the ground, of course).

I didn't even wanna think about how bad my muscles were gonna be hurting tomorrow.

* * *

><p>"You have no idea how sore I am," I mumbled, flopping down on the grass on my stomach. It was Friday, two days after I'd almost drowned at the pool, and the day after I'd practiced cheerleading <em>all day long<em> with Ella and everyone else.

"I'll bet," Fang said. "My mom told me to come over and check on Nudge, and when I peeked around the back, all I saw was you being a monkey and yanking your foot all the way above your head." He raised his dark eyebrows at me.

"I was doing a scorpion," I defended weakly, putting my chin down on my hands.

Fang just rolled his eyes and flopped down on his stomach next to me.

I hadn't realized I was dozing off until Fang shook me awake not-so-gently. I snapped into a sitting position, disoriented and wondering what had woken me up. Fang was smirking and struggling to surpress his laughter. I took off my shoe and whipped it at him. It hit him square in the shoulder after missing his head. He was getting better; he'd ducked to avoid getting hit in the head, knowing that he would probably get hit anyway. Smart boy. Always let the girl hit you or you'll have some problems.

"Gimme my shoe back," I demanded. Fang tossed my shoe to me and I stuck it back on my foot and put my head in my hands. It would've been so nice, to just fall asleep sitting still like that, in the middle of the soft grass. . .

Focus, Max.

Focus on what?

Oh, right. Staying awake.

I glanced over at Fang, who was sitting next to me with a wicked smile on his face as he watched my struggle. "I don't suppose you have any coffee?" I muttered.

He shook his head. "Nope. Fresh out."

"Dang it." I flopped down on my back, my head in Fang's lap. It was weird to look up and see his head upside down.

Another wave of exaustion hit me and I let my eyes flutter shut. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go to sleep for just a few minutes. . .

"Max. Wake up." Fang tugged on my hair this time to wake me up.

"I can't," I slurred.

"Yes you can. Stay awake."

"I'm too tired," I mumbled, closing my eyes again.

"You're a faker."

My eyes flew open. "I am not!" I protested loudly.

He grinned. "Yes you are."

"No, I'm not," I said stubbornly. I realized later that it was probably Fang's plan all along to keep me up by teasing me and arguing with me.

"Well then, you're lazy," he added.

"Not always!" I complained. "Just when I'm tired." I closed my eyes again.

"Bad Max." Fang placed his hands on either side of my face and shook me awake.

"Good Max. Max should sleep," I murmured, not even thinking about the fact that I was talking about myself in the third person.

"No." I felt my pillow disappear, and then Fang had his arms under mine and was dragging me to my feet. "Up, up, up," he said briskly. "We're going for a jog. C'mon. You can do it, I know you can." I was practically swaying, dead on my feet, but Fang grabbed my hand and forced me to keep up with his brisk pace. "Let's go, go, go!" Fang shouted, showing an unusual amount of excitement.

"Can't we stop and rest, just for a minute or sixty?" I begged as he dragged me along.

"NO!" he shouted. "You can do this."

"No I can't," I groaned, yanking my hand from his and speeding up to keep pace with him. "Where are we going?"

"You'll just have to run and wait and see."

"I don't want to," I puffed.

"You can do it," he repeated.

"I don't want to."

"But you're going to."

I groaned again and watched the ground fly by under my feet. Why did he have to force me to run this time, but he carried me when I was perfectly awake and not tired?

After a full ten minutes of running, we'd gone around the block and were standing in front of my house again.

"So why did you force me to run again?" I panted, stomping up to the porch and plopping down on the porch swing.

He shrugged. "To wake you up. Get you angry and ready to take on the rest of the day."

"Mission accomplished," I said, slanting him a pissed-off look.

"Aw, don't be mad," he teased, ruffling my hair with one hand. "Look at you; you're all pink-cheeked and mad and awake."

I stuck out my bottom lip and got ready to give him a major pouting session, but he made a funny face and totally ruined it.

After I was done laughing, I put my feet on the porch railing and pushed the swing. "I wish I could just freeze this moment forever," I sighed. "It's just so peaceful and stress-free and everything."

"Yeah," Fang agreed, taking my hand and squeezing it lightly.

But nothing good can ever last, right?

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so proud of myself for writing a longer chapter.<strong>

**42 days, 1688 hours, 101280 minutes, 6076800 seconds, til dance starts again. asdfghjkl**

**Sorry for the wait -_- I take so long.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	29. One Disaster After Another

**That awkward moment when you think you left your phone on a park bench when you're already five miles away from the park.**

**Yeah, my life sucks.**

**And I've been distracted a lot this past week, and it's been taking me forever just to write one chapter. Sorry for the long waits in between each chapter -_-**

**FaxandReading-That reminds me; I should probably me stretching and practicing too, 'cause I haven't done too much of that recently (as in past month or so lol). But I have been practicing step kicks and it annoys the hell out of everyone that I'm just bursting into a random kick in the middle of the living room. :)**

**Mrs. NickJ. Jonas-LUCKY. Everytime I drive past my dance school (which is way too often), I'm staring at it like a lost puppy. And everytime I open my drawer and see my dance costume from last year, I shove the drawer shut and start yelling at nothing in particular.**

**Ever seen a puppy hump something (or someone O.o)? Funniest thing in the world.**

**You know what else I like, besides turtles? Cats. Because somehow, they always end up on America's Funniest Home Videos, without even trying.**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like James Patterson to you?**

* * *

><p>You know how I said nothing good can ever last?<p>

I didn't expect the universe to agree with me. So, naturally, the order of the universe seemed to totally shift to prove that my life sucks, big time.

As Fang and I just sat there, pushing the swing with our feet, his phone chimed cheerily, scaring the beejezes outta me. I jumped and stared at his pocket like you would stare at someone speaking pig latin. Once I realized it was Fang's phone, I relaxed and watched him expectantly as he pulled the phone from his pocket.

"Who from?" I prompted.

"My mom," he murmured, his forehead creasing in confusion. I leaned over his shoulder and watched as he opened the text from his mom.

Mom: _Are you still with Max? Need you to come home. We're looking at houses today._

My blood ran cold and I completely froze; even my breathing stopped.

Fang looked up at me in concern, then wrapped one arm around my shoulders as he keyed in his response with one hand.

Fang: _Five minutes.  
><em>Mom: _Okay. Don't be late!_

The sound of Fang snapping his phone shut seemed ominously loud in the silence between us. It was at least a minute before I spoke again.

"It seemed bad when you first told me, but now it seems ten times worse, because I realize it's actually happening," I said quietly.

He squeezed my shoulder. "It's gonna be okay. Even if I do move, we'll find a way to see each other. Whether it's video chat or in person, we'll see each other."

I gave a faint smile. "Thanks," I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder. We stayed like that for several minutes until Fang had to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Fang said, standing up. I was right behind him.

"My mom is taking Ella and I out tomorrow. So I don't know when I'll see you again." I frowned.

He chuckled at my distraught expression. "It's okay. We'll figure it out." An indecipherable expression entered his eyes and he leaned closer to me, inch my inch, until his lips were on mine. Of course, my heart was going faster than a hummingbird's wings, and I felt all warm and fuzzy inside, like in cheesy movie scenes. But too soon, it was over and I pulled back the slightest bit to look into his eyes, afraid of what I would find there.

He just looked sad. Which was understandable, considering the whole moving thing. I felt a pang in my stomach, and it hit me so hard then; if Fang moved, and left my life, I didn't know what I would do. I couldn't even imagine my life without him. There was no just Max, or just Fang. There was always Max and Fang. That was just how it worked. In class, you couldn't send one to the pricipal's office without the other insisting to go along. We were together every second we possibly could at school. We seemed to do things at almost the exact same time without thinking about it. Almost like he could read my thoughts, and I could read his. One without the other was like Mike without Ike. Ke$ha without glitter. A Disney movie without a happy ending. All those ridiculous cliches.

"I guess I gotta go," he said softly.

I frowned unwillingly. "Okay," I said reluctantly.

He smirked his usual smart-ass smirk, but it didn't touch his eyes. "See you soon," he promised.

"Okay," I repeated. "Bye."

"Bye."

I paused. He didn't move. "Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Bye."

"Oh for God's sake. I'll see you later, okay?" I laughed and Fang smiled and turned to jog across the street to his house. I shook my head as I walked into the house, humming softly to myself. Until I realized what I was unconciously humming; Miley Cyrus's I Miss You. I had always cried listening to that song as a kid; it made me think of my dad. Now the sad yet catchy lyrics were swirling around and around in my head. I shook my head as if I could physically rid myself of the song.

But it was still stuck in my head.

I groaned and flopped down on the couch, grabbing the book I was reading for class off the coffee table. Reading was mind-occupying; it would get those stupid, catchy lyrics out of my head for sure.

Only it didn't occupy my mind. After twenty minutes of unsuccessfully trying to get into the plot of the book, I slammed it down on the coffee table and paced. I saw Ella outside with the mats, practicing her routine. I sat there deliberating for a few minutes before deciding to reluctantly join her. We practiced our cheerleading routines for a little while, but my mind was wandering, so I quit doing that.

Nothing was working. Listening to music, reading, running routines with Ella, helping my mom make chocolate chip cookies; nothing could successfully distract me. After trying for way too long, I flopped down on my bed and let my thoughts run wild.

I thought about Fang. Then I thought about Fang moving and started hyperventilating. Sure, good things could come from moving; just look what had happened to me. I had moved, and within a week found a new circle of friends that I fit in with better than at my old school. Within days I felt like I'd known them my whole life, rather than just a day or two. If I was being perfectly honest with myself, I hadn't fit in too well at my old school. Everyone else seemed to picture-perfect. It was like a puzzle; everyone else fit together in their seperate cliques perfectly, while I was the one bent puzzle piece that wouldn't fit, no matter how you turned it. But when I'd moved here and found Nudge and Iggy and Fang and everyone, it was like everything in my life had clicked perfectly into place. If Fang moved, then my life would be all screwed up again.

Too much thinking for one day. Time to think about happy stuff. Like. . .like cats. I saw the funniest video about cats last week! There was one cat that tried to jump from a desk to like a TV or something, and it fell. Classic.

I remind myself of Nudge sometimes, with the whole rambling thing. Except I do it in my head.

My phone beeped about a million times, all at once. It had that urgent tone that it did for priority messages. Confused, I reached for it and flipped it open, finding three text messages from Nudge, one from Tess, two from Gazzy, and one from Carolyn. My phone rang and Nudge's name showed up in the caller ID window. I quickly answered.

"Nudge? Why is everyone texting me at once?"

"Max!" I'd never heard Nudge so panicked. It sounded like she was crying.

"What is it?"

"You have to come, quick!" Her next words felt like icicles she'd thrust into my heart. "Iggy's in the hospital!"

* * *

><p><strong>-_- I'm mad at myself for making this so short, and leaving it at a cliffie. But I already started the next chapter, and it'll be longer. Sorry bout the filler-ish chapter.<strong>

**Okay, so picture this: The Maximum Ride movie comes out, and there'll be a bunch of people going to the midnight showing. There'll be the people who didn't read the book, but think the movie looks cool. There'll be the sappy couples going for a chance to make out in the dark without parents walking in. Then there'll be everyone from FanFiction all the way in the back, taking note of everything they got wrong and writing a letter to the directors afterward, and the Fangirls who'll scream when Fang comes on screen.**

**I'm so random.**

**I passed my dance school today and I totally stopped in my conversation with my mom and just stared at it. And then I randomly screamed "I WISH IT WAS SEPTEMBER 20TH!"**

**Cool story, bro. Tell it again.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	30. Wild Goose Chase

**That awkward moment when you bring up an MR reference with a friend who never read the book.**

**And that even more awkward moment when you're walking around with your mom and your friend in PetSmart running errands and you run away from the aisle with the dog crates and can't explain why cause they'll put you in a mental hospital.**

**Guys I'm really sad :C for more reasons than you would care to hear at the moment. . .because if I did go into it I would go on for hours.**

**And do you know how mad I was when I lost the file on this chapter? I mean, I was halfway through, and I had already saved it a few times, then I came home today and it was gone and I had to start over. I was so mad. And I had to speed-write this to get it up in time cause I just saw the Glee Movie and I really wanted to get this up today cause my grandparents came over for dinner and the rest of this week is. . .ugh. I'm a busybusybusy girl. -makes face-**

**Lol my friend said the funniest thing to someone today;  
>"Really. You wanna fight over the internet. What's the worst thing you can do, caps lock me to death?"<strong>

**Disclaimer: James Patterson owns Maximum Ride, I do not.**

* * *

><p>I do believe I exploded off my bed and jumped six feet in the air after I heard that.<p>

"_What?_" Even though I had heard her perfectly clear. My mind was whirling. What was the fastest way to get to the hospital? It was five miles away! And Iggy had taken my bike to get home the other day. . .I bit my lip against all the profanity I wanted to scream at that very second.

"Just. . ." Nudge sounded frustrated. "We need to get to the hospital as fast as we can. I'm down the street at the park with Carolyn practicing but we're on our way to my house." Her panic was blurring her words together and she was getting harder to understand. "Call Fang for me. I'm gonna call Tess and ask how she's doing. She's traumatized."

"Okay, I got it," I said quickly. "I'll see what I can do to get to the hospital."

The line disconnected at the exact time that I hit the end button.

As I dialed Fang's number, the only thing I could think was, _was this what it was like when I was in the hospital?_

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

Nudge takes off at the most inconvienient times.

I had to cut off my time with Max and come home to go look at stupid houses, but when I do come home, Nudge isn't there. Mom told me that she was at the park but should be coming home soon. That was typical, for Nudge. The chatterbox that's constantly late.

I'd tried calling her once already, but I got the call waiting signal and went straight to her perky voicemail message. _OMG HI! You've reached Nudge's voicemail_. . .I hit end to spare myself the blabbering message Nudge left for everyone.

Nudge was already ten minutes late. My mom was starting to tap her foot and look irritated. My dad was just cool and collected and quiet, as always. Like me.

Mom checked her watch. "Enough is enough. We're going to pick her up," she announced crisply, snatching her keys off the foyer table. Dad and I followed silently while Mom started up the car and kept up a string of complaints as she carefully backed down the driveway and headed towards the park. Her complaining reminded me of Max that one day, when she was mad that I dragged her through the hallways.

Speaking of.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I wrestled it out to check the screen. Max. I'm pretty sure my whole face noticably lit up, but I didn't say a word as I hit TALK and pressed it to my ear.

"He-"

"Fang." Max's voice was filled with relief that I'd answered. "Iggy's in the hospital and we need to get there ASAP. Nudge just called me from the park and she's on her way home-"

"Iggy's in the hospital?" I said loudly. Both my mom and my dad gave me a look in the rearview mirror but I ignored them.

"Yes." Max sounded choked.

"For what?" I was still in shock.

"I don't know. That's what I'm trying to find out, and that's why we have to get there."

"Okay. We'll be there. Hold on. Don't hang up." I pulled the phone away from my ear momentarily. "Iggy's in the hospital and we need to get there. Now. And pick up Nudge and Carolyn and Max on the way."

Now, my mom was a big shopper and could be a total diva sometimes, but she has a soft heart. Friends in trouble meant dropping everything and rushing to their aid, in her eyes. So it was no big surprise that my mom just nodded and told my dad to cancel the house showing. I felt a wash of relief at that and pulled my phone back up to my ear.

"We're coming. And we're picking you up on the way," I reported. "So be ready."

"On it. Bye."

"Bye." I snapped my phone shut.

The tension in the car was so thick, it was almost visible. My mom, usually very chatty, like Nudge, sat still and quiet in her seat. As for my dad, he was just quiet as always.

We saw Nudge and Carolyn walking home halfway to the park. My mom pulled up next to them and they looked scared for a moment, before Nudge realized it was Mom and she motioned for Carolyn to get into the backseat with her, leaving one open spot in the middle seat for Max.

We were at Max's house in record time, and my mom was just about to honk the horn when the door flew open, nearly snapping in half from the force, and Max darted out. She almost tripped on the uneven concrete but quickly disguised it in a cartwheel thingy. She yanked open the van door, climbed across me, plopped down in the open seat, and had her seat belt on in a matter of five seconds. I stared at her.

"What?" she whispered defensively.

"Nothing." I grabbed the handle on the door and slid it shut.

My mom was driving like an absolute crazy person, cursing and taking side streets when there was too long of a line at an intersection. We didn't get pulled over, but we got to the hospital fast enough. She didn't bother to park neatly, instead pulling into the parking lot and parking over two spaces. It seemed as though all the doors in the car open simultaneously, and we all got out. I _think_ my dad shut the doors, but I can't say for sure. Max, Nudge, Carolyn and I were all in the lead, sprinting like maniacs. We skidded into the lobby and stopped at the reception desk long enough to get directions. Then we were off again, heading for the elevators. I vaguely saw my mom and dad rushing in as the elevator doors slid closed and we started rising. The elevator music tinkling through miniscule speakers was driving me nuts. Max was hopping back and forth from foot to foot and biting her nails and generally being more fidgety than usual. I inconspicuously took her hand and she relaxed slightly and squeezed my hand.

We finally, finally, _finally_ made it to Iggy's floor and stepped into the waiting room. Everyone else was already there; Gazzy with Angel on his lap and his mom and dad next to him, a red-eyed Tess, J.J. and her mom, Iggy's parents, even Dylan was there, sitting quietly in the corner talking to someone on his cell phone. I resisted the urge to knock his teeth out and sat down next to Gazzy. Angel silently crawled from Gazzy's lap to mine and hugged me hello. She's such a sweet kid.

I patted her head gently and turned to Gazzy. "What happened?"

Gazzy's blue eyes filled with tears. "Iggy and I found this old book at the library, on the history of explosives. We were trying out a few things and even making up some of our own, but we miscalculated something and it set off wrong. . ." His voice cracked. "The doctor said he's gonna be okay, but he's not gonna walk away totally unscathed."

My breath caught in my throat and I simply stared at him mutely. I knew that Gaz and Ig were total pyros and they could make almost anything explode, but I didn't think that they would end up getting hurt by it. They were experts. At our lunch table, we always joked that they were going to find a way to blow up the world one day.

Max sat down next to me and noticed my horrified expression. "What'd I miss?" she demanded as Angel moved to Max's lap. I relayed the story to her and her face turned white, but she didn't say anything and just combed her fingers through Angel's hair.

Time passed weirdly in the waiting room. At times you could totally get lost in your own thoughts, but then you think about how hungry you are or how uncomfortable the chair is or how bored you are, and you're yanked back to reality. Everyone was occupying themselves differently; Max was braiding Angel's hair, Angel was messing with some game on Max's phone, I was staring into space, Gazzy was methodically ripping tissues into tiny squares, the parents were all talking quietly, Dylan had left twenty minutes ago, saying he had a mandatory basketball game and telling us to keep him updated, Tess and Carolyn were playing Tic Tac Toe on gum wrappers, and Nudge and J.J. were flipping through the fashion magazines in the rack next to them, whispering to each other and pointing to the pages.

The door to the waiting room opened and we all turned to face the new arrival. Dr. Martinez and Ella walked in and took seats next to Max. She filled them in on what happened and they both looked shell-shocked and asked a bunch of questions that we didn't have the answers to.

Meanwhile, I was in a trance-like state. The whole rush-to-the-hospital-and-sit-silently-in-the-waiting-room thing had dredged up memories of when Max had been in the hospital. Even though I'd barely known her then, it was still frightening to hear that a friend was in the hospital. And after that we just kept hanging out more and more and when she came back to school again we were best friends.

Even though the whole soul-mate thing was unbearably cheesy, I honestly thought that maybe that was an appropriate description for Max and I. I mean, I don't make friends easily. Obviously. I don't talk much. Therefore, people aren't exactly falling over each other to be my friend. But with Max it was like we had just instantly clicked, no matter how cliched and overused that line is.

I don't know how long we waited there. If you set up a camera and taped our group for the whole time we were there, there would've been very little movement. Everyone barely got up or moved around. Angel eventually went over to the beat-up loveseat in the corner and was out cold in seconds. Gazzy was yawning and blinking heavily, a sign that he was gonna pass out with his head over the back of the chair any second. Eventually my mom left to go get Dunkin Donuts coffees for the adults and munchkins for the rest of us. It was then that I realized I was starving and ended up snarfing down half of a box. Good thing Mom had thought ahead and gotten three boxes; Max and I finished one on our own.

"How long have we been here?" Max asked quietly, taking a sip from a water bottle and passing it to me.

"I dunno." I took a huge gulp and Max just shook her head at me and took it back, quickly screwing the cap back on and setting it down.

Nudge, J.J., Tess, and Carolyn had already passed out in one big dog-pile-like formation. The hospital staff had been kind enough to bring us some rather flat, lumpy pillows, and they'd curled up on those and went to sleep.

I was totally lost in my own thoughts so I was scared half to death when Max yawned and put her head on my shoulder. I jumped a little, but she didn't move or comment. When I craned my head around to see her face, her eyes were closed and her mouth was open the tiniest bit and she was completely fast asleep.

Wow, that was quick.

Max was so. . .surprisingly _cute_ when she was sleeping. It was pretty endearing.

Oh God Fang, you're such a sap.

I yawned massively. So. . .sleeeeeppyyyy. . .

The next thing I was aware of was a loud babbling.

I blinked, realizing I'd fallen asleep with my head resting against Max's, like total sappy lovebirds.

Great. Wonder how many people had taken notice.

Max and I woke up at the same exact time and pulled our phones out of our pockets to check the time. At the same time. A bit creepy.

"Holy crap," Max muttered, stifling a yawn. "It's one thirty. In the morning."

"Yeah. I can see that." I stuffed my phone back in my pocket. My neck felt all stiff and sore and crappy and so did my back.

I looked around the room to see that everyone was sleepy and had messed-up hair, but everyone was talking loudly. Nudge and Carolyn in particular were trying to hide their sly grins, which immediately tipped me off that something was fishy here.

I'm sorry. I'm killing you with cliches.

I nudged Max. Heh heh, nudged. Cause Nudge's name is - oh God, I'm stupid. "What're they up to?" I murmured, gesturing to the giggling girls.

Max's eyes narrowed. "Hey Nudge?" Nudge lifted her head, her mischievous smile still in place. Max lifted a hand and crooked her finger; a clear sign for 'if you do not come over here and tell me what you've got up your sleeve I will kick your butt'. Nudge grabbed Carolyn's wrist and they both came to stand in front of Max and I, those smiles never leaving their faces.

"What's up?" Carolyn said, twirling a strand of short black hair around her finger.

"What's with you guys?" Max asked suspiciously.

Nudge giggled and slid her hand in her pocket. "Nothin'," she said, way too casually.

Max gave her the Ultimate Max Glare of Death (brought to you by Subway; eat fresh! Sorry. I had to).

Carolyn pulled out her phone and started messing around on it. So did Nudge. Max opened her mouth to threaten them when they both turned their phones towards us. I squinted to look at the screen on Nudge's phone as Max did the same with Carolyn's.

Oh.

No.

They.

Didn't.

* * *

><p>Max POV<p>

Those devils. They are so dead.

Nudge had learned quite a few blackmailing techniques from me. But I'd never expected her to use them _against_ me. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Anyway, said devils had taken pictures of Fang and I totally passed out with our heads awkwardly resting against one another's. Actually, my head was on Fang's shoulder, and his was leaning up against mine. His mouth was stretched wide open, which was pretty funny, but I was too pissed off to laugh. It was kinda weird to see myself sleeping. My mouth wasn't hanging open like Fang's, but I looked kinda irritated, even as I was sleeping.

I forced myself to stay calm and take deep breaths. "You have five minutes to delete those, or you'll wish you never took them," I said, glad my voice sounded ultra-calm and controlled. Am I good or what?

Nudge just snickered and Fang shot her a disbelieving look. "You're playing with fire," he muttered.

She was unfazed. "I'll take the risk."

He shrugged. "Whatever. Your funeral."

I pretended to surrender, leaning back in my chair. I folded my arms and tapped Fang's elbow once. I could tell from the hint of a smile on his face that we were thinking the same thing. "On three," I said under my breath, so low that only he could hear me. He nodded slightly; so slightly that I could barely see it. He tapped my elbow once. I tapped his twice. He tapped mine three times and we were off.

So ninja, right? With the secret codes and everything.

We both exploded out of our chairs and snatched Nudge's and Carolyn's phones. Without breaking stride, we ran out to the hallway and quickly got lost in the maze of hallways. We finally stopped in a dimly lit hallway and crouched next to a Snapple vending machine.

"We are good," I said with a whistle, opening Carolyn's phone and clicking over to her pictures. Dammit. Her phone had a password on her pictures. Smart girl, but that made my job right now a real pain in the butt. "What do you think Carolyn's password would be?" I asked Fang, already keying in her six-digit birthday. Rejected. Damn.

"Try her birthday," Fang suggested. He had the easy job, since he had his sister's phone. He'd already hacked Nudge's phone and was deleting the pictures.

"Already did that," I sighed.

"How many letters?" He leaned over my shoulder.

"Six."

"Her dog's name," he suggested.

I keyed in T-A-Y-L-O-R. Rejected again. I sighed. "Why is this so difficult?" I said in frustration. I was already ridiculously frustrated, even though I'd only tried two passwords.

"Try her name."

"That's seven letters."

"Oh. Right."

I tried everything; Gasman, Igster, NudgeT, yellow (her favorite color), TSwift (her favorite singer), Jarred (her crush), even her dog's breed, Puggle. This was way too hard.

"This is ridiculous. This should be so easy. Carolyn isn't a very complicated person." I rubbed my temples, hoping I could massage an epiphany right from my brain. I calmly thought about everyone in the waiting room. There was Gazzy and Angel and J.J. and Tess. Nudge and Carolyn may or may not have been looking for Fang and I. There were the parents. . .

I relaxed and sat up straight. It was unbearably clear now.

I typed in H-I-L-A-R-Y, and I was in.

I couldn't help but grin as I scrolled through her pictures and deleted the few she'd taken of Fang and I. Hilary was Carolyn's mom's name. I finished deleting the pictures and looked up at Fang. "I got it," I stated unnecessarily.

Fang shook his head slightly, looking awed. "I see that. Let's go now."

Could Fang see the future? Because I swear, a second after he said that, I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and some pretty pissed-off voices yelling "MAX! FANG! You're gonna get it!"

I shoved Fang's shoulder. "Go!" I hissed. We both stepped out of the alcove we'd been crouching in, and shot down the hallway as if the hounds of hell were after us. Well, they kind of were.

"There they are!" Carolyn shrieked uselessly. I heard their footsteps get faster and louder, but Fang and I had reacted too quickly for them to catch up.

The hallway was narrowing, and Fang and I had to sometimes twist to the side to narrowly avoid crashing into the occasional box or trashcan. We finally made it to the end of the hallway, where it branched into two different hallways reaching in opposite directions. I barely hesitated before continuing to the one on the right.

"Split up!" I shouted at Fang, who nodded and swerved to the left. I grinned. This wild-goose-chase thing was fun. I found a door that opened up to a staircase and quickly burst into the staircase, forcing the door closed behind me. I ran up the stairs until I reached a door marked with a big 5. I cautiously opened it and stepped into an over-air-conditioned hallway. There was a little cafe to my left, and it suddenly occured to me that I was starving. I hesitated, torn. I would really love to get one of those giant chocolate chip cookies. I bit my lip and tapped my foot indecisively. Whatever. Maybe I should just go back to the waiting room now. I walked slowly, casually down the hallway until I reached the elevator. When the elevator car arrived, I made sure that it was empty, and pressed the button for the second floor.

Bad idea, Max.

When the doors opened, Carolyn and Nudge were there, waiting impatiently. In the time it took them to register that it was me in the elevator, I had already shoved past them and bolted down the hallway. A somewhat risky move, but effective. Go Max!

I swerved through a complicated web of hallways until I was 100% sure I'd lost them. I stopped to catch my breath, and that was when Fang ran right past me. "Fang," I called, and he slowed and walked back to where I was standing. "Let's go back," I suggested.

"And if Nudge and Carolyn attack us. . .?"

I shrugged. "We can take them. And we're in a hospital, if we hurt them too bad."

He grinned. "True. Let's go."

When we got to the waiting room, everyone was staring at a grim-faced doctor in shock. Fang and I just stood there, confused.

"What'd we miss?" I demanded.

Mom slowly turned to face me. "The boys connected the explosion to a lightbulb," she said robotically. "The power they used for their explosive made the light too strong, and it blinded Iggy. Forever."

* * *

><p><strong>So anyway, longer-ish chapter. Sort of filler-ish, too, sorry about that, but the end proves that it's not <strong>_**completely**_** pointless. And after this. . .I have no ideas. I'm gonna write one more chapter after this, when everyone gets to see Iggy, but after that I might not update for a little bit while I brainstorm. Sowwy. que cute smiley face. c:**

**How well do I do with my spelling on this? Honestly. I don't have spell check on the program I use, and I sometimes wonder how to spell certain words when I'm having a total blank moment. Am I at least decent with my spelling? Lmao.**

**And I just realized. You guys don't even know my name. xD**

**Random fact: I came up with Carolyn's password after I got off the phone with my friend, who informed me that Hilary Duff is pregnant. My childhood illusions are shattered. I can never watch A Cinderella Story in the same way.**

**Okay I'm gonna go iTunes shop. Good bye, my loyal minions, and review.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	31. Normal Yet Totally Abnormal

**...hi.**

**I'm sorry it's taking me longer and longer to update. /: Especially because this is relatively short.**

**And shoutout; to Aku12. Cause I felt like it. And because my cousin is reading the series and he gave him major spoilers. -.- And because of the Dynamite jam session.**

**And guiiiseee (I purposely misspelled that) guess what. 33 days til dance starts again C: aaaaand I just got my recital DVD in the mail; it's amazing. :D**

**Hey, wanna hear a joke about pizza? ...Nevermind. I won't tell you. It's too. . .  
>Cheesy.<strong>

**You wanna hear something _else_ I like? Over-spending on iTunes. oops.**

**Disclaimer: Does James Patterson over-spend on iTunes? No. Well, if he does, I doubt he buys the stuff I do. Therefore I am not James Patterson and do not own Maximum Ride. How bout that cold logic?**

* * *

><p>Iggy.<p>

Blind.

. . .What?

NO.

Clearly, my brain was in a state of shock.

I felt all the blood drain from my face and my hand was clamped over my mouth to stop myself from sobbing uselessly like an idiot.

I'd had a friend in Montana who was blind. Nina, I think that was her name. She was kinda left out of everyone else's group. No one was mean enough to tease her; it wasn't her fault that she was born blind. Everyone kinda just ignored her without being too obvious about it. I had never pitied myself for being sort of an outcast; I did, however, pity other people. Like I said, I was never really part of any group. I kind of floated around from group to group; some days I would sit with my gymnastics friends, some days the quiet group of kinda dorky kids in my math class, some days the skateboarders. You get the picture? Anyway, I'd always had a soft spot for Nina, and I helped her and always helped her out when she couldn't find something in her locker. Eventually, regular school was too hard for her, and she transferred to a school for the blind. Even though she wasn't really a best friend, I'd missed her.

I am turning into such a marshmellow. (**A/N: Random thought; if I were super-tiny, I would sleep on a marshmellow. c: **)

"Max?" Fang's voice shattered my train of thought. "You okay?"

I realized that I'd totally frozen in place, and Fang had his arms around me from behind, but I felt like I could barely move.

"She's in shock," said a voice that I recognized as the doctor's. "Help her sit down. Don't bombard her with a million questions." I felt myself being guided into a chair, rather than actually watching it happen, even though my eyes were wide open. I felt someone's fingers around my wrist; probably the doctor taking my pulse. "You, son. Speak calmly to her. Almost like you're trying to coax her back to reality."

Okay, my thoughts were half ohmygodIggy'sblind, and half WTF IS THIS DUDE TALKING ABOUT. He sounded more like a fortune teller than a doctor. Weird much?

"Max?" Fang's voice. "Hey, Max. Everything's gonna be okay, you know. Iggy's gonna be okay. Different, but okay. We'll all work through this. You'll be okay." There was a pause. "You like ducks, Max. You like the colorful ones. You like Hot Pockets, too. You have a million favorite bands. You annoy the heck out of me sometimes, but I would very much like it if you would talk to me now. . ."

That broke through the numbness and I shot Fang a look. "You annoy me, too."

There was a collective sigh of relief from everyone, and I frowned. Maybe I had been acting a little more zombie-like than I had thought.

"I'm fine," I insisted, and struggled to stand up. Everyone except Fang backed off; he just towed me out of the chair and kept one arms around my shoulder as if to steady me. I leaned against him gratefully, thankful for the support. It was soo beyond humiliating that I was so weak and trembly, but friends getting hurt was my weak point. I could stare at my own bleeding injury for an hour without crying or looking away, but a friend? I would scream and carry them to the hospital. I didn't worry about myself half as much as I did for other people.

"You can come see him now," the doctor said.

* * *

><p>I'll never forget how Iggy looked when I first saw his newly-blinded state. Horribly dramatic, but true. His pale blue eyes were staring unseeingly at the skylight above his bed. He had a healing red mark on his left cheek and he looked all banged up, and my heart was totally breaking for him. I mean, it can't be easy to simply wake up one day, open your eyes, and see nothing.<p>

I hadn't realized that Iggy's family had been absent from the waiting room when I'd entered; they were on stools next to Iggy's bed. Tess was holding Iggy's hand and crying steadily. The room was quiet except for the sound of his mother softly singing to him.

Iggy must've heard us enter, because he turned his head toward us. His eyes were staring at a point about three feet over my head as he said, "Hi guys."

"H-how'd you know it was us?" Nudge asked shakily.

Iggy shrugged weakly. "I don't know. I could tell that it was a big group because I heard a lot of footsteps. So I assumed it was you guys." He frowned. "Who, exactly, is in here?"

"Well, there's me, Carolyn, J.J., Max, Fang, Gazzy, Angel, Ella, and everyone's parents." Nudge continued rattling on about every insignifigant detail of how we'd arrived there and how long we'd been in the waiting room and about how Fang and I stole their phones. Iggy usually would've pretended to be writhing in pain with his ears bleeding because of her word vomit, but instead he listened intently. Poor Ig.

I moved across the room and tentatively leaned against the metal bed railing. Iggy frowned and turned toward me. Probably trying to figure out who it was. I touched his hand lightly. "I was really worried," I murmured so only he could hear, even though his family was a foot away.

He smiled slightly. "Hey, Max," he said, reclining against his pillows again.

An uneasy silence consumed the room, which Fang broke with a little awkward cough. I gave him a look that clearly said _you are the most awkward human being alive_ and he shrugged and looked away. Then I saw the clock.

"Holy crap," I muttered. At least, let's just say I said holy crap. "It's two fifteen. A.M.," I stated unnecessarily.

My mom was stifling her yawns too. "Yes, it is, and we should all be getting home by now. We can visit with Iggy longer in the morning when we're all rested up," she said gently. She ushered everyone through the door and back into the hallway, seeming creepily shepard-like. Fang and I were the only ones left in the room besides Iggy and his family.

I squeezed Ig's hand lightly. "See you tomorrow," I said. I got up and waited impatiently at the door while Fang said his goodbyes. When we finally left the hospital and were out in the cool night air, we realized how exausted we were. Fang was yawning so wide it looked like someone was stretching his mouth open.

"See you tomorrow," I repeated to Fang robotically. I got into my mom's car and waited until we were already out on the highway driving to let a tear slip down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly. I had been crying way too much this year; more than I ever cried in Montana. _Maybe because things in Montana were so normal_, I thought to myself. _Maybe because, in Montana, I could go a week without something catastrophic happening._

* * *

><p>The next morning was considerably normal. . .and weird.<p>

Normal because life went on as usual. Ella had her Lucky Charms and I had my two pieces of toast with butter on one side and Nutella on the other.

"That's really disgusting, Max." Ella wrinkled her nose as I took a bite of my Nutella/butter toast.

"To you," I countered. "Because you've never tried it."

Ella made a face and continued eating the marshmellows out of her dry bowl of Lucky Charms.

It was totally weird because Fang asked me on an actual _date_.

Yeah, you heard me.

He texted me that morning. He said, and I quote, 'Hey, wanna catch a movie later?'

Is it just me, or is that boy language for 'date'? 'Cause it's kinda hard to tell the difference. I wish Google translator had a setting for 'boy'. It would be so much easier to go through life.

So anyway, here I was with Fang, in my living room, looking up showing times in the newspaper. He was leaning against the couch, sitting on the floor; I was flopped down on my stomach with my chin on the carpet. I had given up looking for a reasonable showtime by now. Fang was still looking, though.

"When are you gonna give that up and just use Fandango?" I complained.

He paused. "I found one!" he shouted victoriously.

I pushed myself off my stomach. "Lemme see!"

Sure enough, Fang had found a perfect showtime at 6:30 for some new comedy movie he wanted to see but I'd never heard of. I made sure to double-check and make sure it was _just_ a comedy; a romantic comedy would've been a tad awkward.

"Why do I have a feeling this'll be the stupidest movie I'll ever see?" I muttered.

"Because you have no faith in me."

"Not true." I shoved him.

He grinned. "I gotta go. See you at six-ish? We'll get McDonalds. . .or something." He looked kinda confused.

"Okay," I said, folding my arms over my stomach, trying to stop the butterflies. "See ya."

He smiled over his shoulder at me as he shut the door behind him.

I counted thirty seconds after he left, then bolted upright and screeched "Elllaaa!" at the top of my lungs and sprinting to the kitchen.

* * *

><p><strong>Once again, sorry for the late update. For one, I literally had five shows on my DVR to watch; one episode of Secret Life of the American Teenager, two of Pretty Little Liars, and two of Dance Moms. Not that you care, but y'know. Two, I've been reading too much instead of writing. And third and most important; writer's block.<strong>

**And you will NEVER guess what I'm doing Saturday morning after I get my hair dyed. :D Go on, guess! And if you guess what color I'm getting my hair dyed, you're freaking amazing.**

**Wasn't that random?**

**And I'm looking for new fics to read because I'm constantly bored. So if you know any good fics for any of the following, please tell me. C:  
>-House of Night<br>-Gallagher Girls  
>-Twilight<br>-The Hunger Games  
>-Glee [not as much as the others]<br>-And, Maximum Ride of course**

**Ew I hate it when it's sunny and raining. It's like, what's the point of the rain? smh. My friend thought that meant something totally wrong. No, ladies and gentleman, it's shaking my head. Gosh, smh.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	32. McDonalds: Because That's Classy

**That awkward moment when, instead of writing this chapter over several days and taking my time, I crammed it all into one hour. So basically, for the past few days I've had major writer's block.  
>Btw, I'm snickering awkwardly at this chapter's title. :D<strong>

**I could give you my million excuses, but all I can really say is I've been busy. I just got my new puppy (her name is Ruby, she's so cute), had to go back to school shopping, summer reading, chores, all that stuff. I'll be an even slower updater when school comes around in two weeks cause my teachers aren't shy with piling on homework. And now I have a dog to walk after school. A dog that's not housetrained.**

**And none of you guessed what color I dyed my hair. Well, I didn't totally dye it. I just got peekaboo streaks; the ones that are in the back of your head, underneath? So it shows through. And they're purple. Which looks awesome cause my hair is like really light brown. But, now I have purple dye all over my neck cause they never washed it off properly -_-**

**Want another joke?  
>Friend: Wanna hear a bird joke?<br>Me: Sure.  
>Friend: You're supposed to say no. Let's try again. Wanna hear a bird joke?<br>Me: ..no?  
>Friend: Well this is hawkward.<br>I am KILLING you guys with bad humor.**

**Disclaimer: I bet James Patterson isn't a hip hop competition dancer. Is he? Is he? No. So I don't own Maximum Ride.**

* * *

><p>"What do you want, Max?" Ella grumpled, picking at her bacon. Which, by the way, was foolish; when one has bacon, one must eat bacon hastily before someone else takes it. Rule number 11 of bacon. Number one is that it must be respected. Fact. I snagged a piece off her plate.<p>

"I need you to straighten my hair for tonight," I blurted. Okay, that was blunt. I was originally gonna just casually ask her to borrow her straightener, no questions asked, and just do it myself. But the word vomit spoke for me.

Ella perked up, leaning forward eagerly over the table. "Why?" she giggled. "Where are you going?"

"I just want it straightened," I said stubbornly.

My sister leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. "I need a reason."

"You mean, other than this is probably the only occasion in my life when I'm ever going to willingly allow you to manipulate my hair? I wasn't aware you needed a better reason."

"Max, you said _for tonight_. What's so special about tonight?"

I stiffened. Dammit. "Nothing."

"You're a terrible liar, Max."

"No, you see, that's the thing. I am an amazing liar, you just know how to spot my lies."

"So, you admit to the lie?"

I gasped. "No!"

She smiled slyly and but her hands up in defense. "Whatever. Just know that I'll figure it out, and I won't be shy with my snooping."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered. Turning away. "I'll need it straightened by 6:00. . .okay?" I was unnecessarily nervous. Maybe it was because this was my first actual official date with Fang. Maybe it was because Ella had the ability to find out just by looking at the newspapers strewed all over the living room. Maybe it was because I was totally and completely crazy. Whatever it was, it was making me break out in a cold sweat.

"Sure." Ella smiled again and got up to clean off her plate. And, get this - she actually _dumped her bacon in the trash_. Can you believe it? After all these years, my sister has yet to mantain a healty respect for bacon. I tried to stifle my involuntary gasp, unsuccessfully. (**A/N: I just had pancakes and bacon for dinner. Yuuum.**)

"What?" Ella demanded, seeing my look of horror.

"You just threw out bacon," I managed.

Ella raised her eyebrows. "So?"

I gasped again. "You're so heartless!" Seriously, what was wrong with her? Didn't she see that bacon was clearly sent from above and shouldn't be tossed away like it was nothing? Poor bacon. I could only imagine it sitting there in the bottom of the can, covered in damp, crumpled paper towels and orange peels. . .

Stay strong, Max. You can make more bacon later.

I took a deep breath and left the room. I went upstairs and plopped down on my favorite beanbag chair. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Become Yoga Max. Heh heh, that sounds like Yoda.

Without opening my eyes, I fumbled around for the remote to my stereo and clicked the shuffle button. The three CDs that were currently in the stereo started spinning and whirring. My Green Day CD started first, and I leaned back gratefully and lost myself in the music.

* * *

><p>There was a loud banging from downstairs and a shriek. I bolted off my beanbag chair, disoriented as I glanced around the room. Just seconds ago, I had been sitting there calmly in my beanbag, with the light slanting in from the window that faced the side yard. Now the light was dimmer, and what little light filtered through the windows was coming in at the wrong angle. I glanced at the clock. It was five twenty. Holy crap. Did I really fall asleep again? Haven't I been sleeping enough?<p>

There was another crash from downstairs that sent me practically flying out of my room and down the stairs. I skidded into the kitchen to see Ella and J.J. crouching on the counter, reaching for the pots that were hanging from the ceiling rack. Who knows when J.J. got here? Most of the stuff in my life is simply a mystery.

"Woah!" I yelled over their bickering. "Guys, what happened?" I crouched down and started gathering up all the pots that had fallen to the floor.

"J.J. says we need this pot to make macaroni and cheese with but I think it's this one," Ella said stubbornly. She held up two different pots to demonstrate.

I stifled a laugh. "Okay, first of all, it doesn't really matter what pot you use. But I, personally, use the one J.J. picked out." Ella pouted while J.J. grinned victoriously. "Second, I'm gonna start getting ready now, so if you'd come show me where your straightener is, I would greatly appreciate it."

Ella hopped off the counter and shook her head. "Nice try, but I'm doing it for you. You'll never escape me. C'mon." She gestured to J.J. and I and we followed her upstairs. Ella grabbed a stool from her room and placed it in front of the full-length mirror in my mom's luxury master bedroom. "Sit and don't move," she instructed, and darted out again. J.J. sat on the edge of the Jacuzzi tub and grinned at me.

Ella arrived in the room seconds later, breathless with her arms full of hair products.

"Uh oh," I muttered, glaring at the pile she dumped next to the stool I was sitting on. "Ella, I said you can _straighten_ my hair. Whatever all that stuff is, you're not using it."

Ella didn't say anything as she plugged her straightener into the wall and waited for it to warm up. The silence as she straightened my hair was suffocating me, so I closed my eyes and focused on other things to keep my mind from the quietness of the room.

Before I knew it, Ella was declaring my hair done and pulling it out of the wall. I could tell from the gleam in her eyes that she was going to torture my hair if I stayed for much longer, and I was totally ready to bolt until my phone chimed merrily from the counter.

My eyes zeroed in on it at the same time as Ella, and we dove for it at the same time. Ella was closer; she snagged it off the counter and skittered to the other side of the room to read the text.

"It's from FANG!" Ella squealed. J.J. hopped up and stood in front of Ella, guarding the phone from me. I stood with my arms stubbornly crossed and my chin raised, basically saying, whatever blackmail you try to use will not work.

"It saaayss. . ." Ella drew out the word as she went to my inbox and opened the text. She cleared her throat and read it out loud. " 'We're probably gonna take a little while to eat, so we should get going like 10 minutes earlier, okay? My mom's gonna drive us to McDonalds, and the movie theater is right next door, so we can walk." Ella's head shot up and her gaze met mine, a devilish grin curling her lips. "So you're going out with _Fang_ tonight," she said slowly.

"That's the plan," I said coolly. I was glad my voice didn't show my frustration and anger.

Ella's eyes lit up. "This changes everything. Come on!" She yanked on my arm, but I hung onto the towel rack for dear life. I. Was. Done. Being. Dressed. Up.

My sister's brow furrowed. "J.J., help me out? Grab her legs. I got her shoulders." I screamed bloody murder as Ella and J.J. swung me up easily between them and shimied down the hall to Ella's room. It was a difficult trip because I refused to be still for a second. I thrashed around and tried to escape, but they held firm until we reached Ella's room. Then Ella dragged me over to a chair while J.J. shut and locked the door behind us and propped up a chair under the knob.

"I will _not_ allow you to dress me up," I fumed. Sure, they could lock me in a room with a bunch of clothes, but that didn't mean I would put them on. That had only worked for Ella once; I panicked because I had no other clothes to wear except my PJs. But I was perfectly fine to go out in what I was wearing.

"Some trust, please," Ella mumbled as she leafed through her closet.

"Ella," I warned. "No matter what you pick out, I'm not putting it on."

J.J. broke in. "What if you agree to it?"

"I'll agree to nothing but what I'm wearing."

"What if we just glam up what you're wearing?" Ella offered.

I glanced down at my red hoodie and jeans and back up at my sister. "In what way?" I asked warily.

"Like. . ." Ella tapped her chin and turned back to her closet. "How about trading those old jeans for these?" She held out a pair of skinny jeans.

My mouth flopped open. "No way!"

Both girls gave me puppy dog eyes, which were easier to resist than I'd thought.

"Fine," Ella said shortly. She went looking again and came up with dark-wash flared jeans. They looked brand new, and at least comfier than the skinny jeans.

"I can agree to that," I allowed. J.J. squealed happily and shoved me into the closet to change. Grumbling to myself, I switched out my old jeans for the flared ones Ella had proposed. They weren't so bad. They were actually pretty comfy. I emerged from the closet and both girls gave the jeans a critical look.

"Perfect," Ella said with a wide grin. J.J. nodded eagerly in agreement. The two girls searched for something else in Ella's closet, while I inconspicuously plucked my phone off Ella's dresser, where she'd dropped it. I opened Fang's text again and keyed in a quick _ok_ and sent that. I quickly closed the phone and stuffed it in my pocket as J.J. came barrelling towards me with a zip-up hoodie in her hands. It was kinda a faded navy blue and had aero written on it in bright green lettering. I plucked it out of her hands.

"Why the hell does this thing say aero?" I asked incredulously.

"That's the store it came from," Ella informed me.

"That's a ridiculous name for a store," I retorted, but ducked into the closet and zipped the hoodie up over my plain white tank top.

Ella and J.J. spent a full six minutes trying to convince me to add a sparkly belt or a scarf or makeup to my look, but refusing was easier to refuse than you'd think. I'd finally slipped into my room for some privacy, and stood in front of my mirror, eyeing myself critically. The hoodie and jeans that Ella had given me were a lot better than other ensembles that she'd forced me into. A lot better, actually. It actually wasn't a bad look for me. I liked the jeans, and the color of the hoodie except for the big ridiculous letters smack in the middle of it.

I straightened my hair nervously and turned away from the mirror. I was as ready as I'd ever be, I suppose.

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

"FAAAANNG! Thirty-seven minutes!"

I grimaced and turned my iPod down a few notches. The fact that I could even hear Nudge through my iPod at full volume was saying something.

Nudge had been like this ever since 4:50, an hour before I was meeting Max and going out for dinner and a movie. Nudge had sniffed out her gossip from me this morning, the second I'd gotten home. She'd been suspicious, with a million questions for me, and had finally found out about the. . .date, I suppose.

Was it a date? It felt like a date. I mean, I liked Max. As more than a friend. She was different from other girls - she didn't see the need to giggle every five seconds and flip her hair in front of us guys. I mean, what is with girls? What makes them think that acting stupid is cute? Just - ugh.

Just thinking about how Max got when she was all embarassed and rosy-cheeked was enough to make me smile. Lately my parents had mentioned how they'd noticed a change in me; smiling for no reason, laughing louder than usual, coming home in a good mood. They didn't know _why,_ though - I shudder to think of how my mom would react if she knew. She'd make such a big deal about it, and when you're quiet like me, you want things to stay relatively quiet.

"Thirty-six minutes!" Nudge giggled, dodging in and out of the family room.

I sighed in irritation. I turned up the volume on the TV - Spongebob was on. It was my secret happiness, watching Spongebob. I mean, he's a sponge that lives in a pineapple and his best friends are a starfish and a squirrel. What's not to like? If you tell anyone, you'll wake up one day - or, actually, you won't wake up one day. Simple as that.

''Thirty-fiiiive!" Nudge sang.

I turned up the volume even higher.

"Nudge, keep it down," I heard my mom say.

"Okay," I heard Nudge reply.

"You like Krabby Patties, don't you Squidward?" Spongebob asked. I cracked up at the expression on his face, trying to keep it quiet; if my mom found out I was still laughing over Spongebob at age fourteen - I'd never hear the end of that either.

"Thirty-four minutes," Nudge whispered, popping into the room. She glanced quickly at the TV and back to me with wide eyes. "Um, you're watching Spongebob?"

"Yeah," I grumbled. "And you're standing in front of the screen."

Nudge flashed a wide, teasing grin. "Okay, I'll move so you can have your quality time with Spongebob." She moved to the spot next to me on the couch, bouncing with anticipation. After about thirty seconds, she spoke again. "Thirty-three," she trilled, vibrating with excitement.

"Shut up," I muttered, focusing on Spongebob. Squidward was about to blow up and I didn't wanna miss it.

"Neveerrrr," she giggled.

"Shhh," I shushed her, still staring at the screen.

She paused, then said, "Hey Fang, thirty-two minutes until your date."

I scowled but stayed quiet as the episode ended and a commercial for foot cream came onscreen. I stared impassively at the screen until the commercial ended. Nudge whispered in my ear again; thirty-one minutes. This was getting exausting.

I was laughing at an eyeglass commercial (what? It was funny) when Nudge screamed at the top of her lungs and scared the everliving crap out of me. "HALF AN HOUR TIL YOUR DATE! TIME TO GET READY!" she bubbled. She grabbed my sleeve and towed me upstairs, while I complained loudly. She dragged me into my room and ran around the room like a mini tornado, mumbling to herself and throwing clothes and stuff all over the floor.

I moved to the window and glanced out at Max's house. There were only a few lights on in the window; I could see Ella and J.J. in the kitchen, sitting on the counter and reaching for pots. A bunch crashed to the floor and Ella jumped and started yelling. Max came into the room then, her yelling too, and started cleaning up the pots. I smiled distantly. That was so _Max_. Scream and add to the mayhem, but try to clear up the craziness at the same time.

"Okay, I have the perfect outfit for youuu!" Nudge sang. I turned back to her warily, expecting the worst. She was holding a blue-and-black plaid button-up shirt and black jeans with my Converse dangling from her fingers.

"Um, I don't remember owning that," I said, pointing to the shirt.

"That's because Mom and I bought it for you as a birthday present but you don't wear anything but black and you tossed it to the back of your closet, remeber?" Nudge tossed the clothes on my bed and put her hands on her hips.

"Uh, I guess I remember that," I muttered. Actually, I didn't, but there was less trouble if I just humored Nudge.

"Right. So you're wearing it," she said, hopping from foot to foot. She was ecstatic.

I picked up the shirt critically. "It's itchy," I said, feeling the inside.

She pointed to the black t-shirt I was wearing. "Wear that underneath," she suggested.

What is it with girls and all this fashion stuff? It was a relief that Max wasn't like that. I would never be able to tolerate her.

"Go go go!" Nudge shouted. She propelled me into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. What I didn't understand was why I couldn't just change in my room and kick her out.

I pulled on the shirt and jeans (**I almost forgot the r in shirt..**) and glanced at myself in the mirror. The shirt wasn't very comfortable and the jeans were tighter than I was used to. I opened the door and peeked accusingly at Nudge. "Are these skinny jeans?" I accused.

"No!" Nudge said. She sounded sincere, so I waited for her explanation. "They're not really skinny jeans, just skinnier than you're used to."

"I refuse to wear these," I said calmly.

Nudge looked upset. "No!" she cried. "Pleaaase Fang. You never let me dress you up. And this is like, your first date. You _have_ to." She widened her brown eyes to the side of dinner plates. So unfair. She was pulling the Bambi eyes.

"Okay," I muttered. If Max had been there to witness my weakness, she would've hit me upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper. Or a crowbar. I would bet on the crowbar.

"Yaaay! Thank yooooou!" Nudge shouted, skipping to her room happily.

I will never forgive myself for my weakness for Bambi eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>Nudge POV<strong>

I skipped down the hall and into my room, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I had soooo not expected Fang to actually give in! I mean, he was usually so quiet and stuff but when it comes to me trying to force him to do something he doesn't wanna do, he's usually unwavering in his decision. Like once, I tried to guilt him into getting me this amazing D&G purse because I forgot my money, and I swear I cried and begged for an hour but he never gave in! I mean, who doesn't give in for poor little girls screaming and crying?

I opened my phone and texted Ella; _Is Max ready?_

Ella: _Almost. She's changing right now_.  
>Nudge: <em>You didn't go all crazy with formal stuff, right? You remember what Fang told me last month? He hates when girls dress up, y'know? He said he likes it when girls keep it casual. I mean, that makes sense, because Fang is so casual himself and all that, so yeah, that makes sense.<br>_Ella: _I have it covered. And besides, if Max was wearing a Cinerella ball gown, you know Fang wouldn't care. Max's been denying there's something between them forever, but it's **so obvious**. She's so unobservant.  
><em>Nudge: _IKR? See you later.  
><em>Ella: _kk_

I was going over Ella's house later so we could watch Max and Fang when Max came home. We were hoping desperately that they'd get all romantic and Fang would kiss Max goodbye. I was so excited for Fang's date I couldn't stand it.

* * *

><p><strong>I love how Ella and Nudge are so enthusiastic for other people, don't you?<strong>

**Okay so anyway I was gonna be totally mean and end the chapter here, but I decided against it cause I haven't updated in a while and you deserve a long(er) chapter.**

**So, let the story continue.**

* * *

><p><strong>Max POV<strong>

"Take deeeeep breaths," Ella advised, coming to sit next to me on the couch.

"Ella, for the last time, I'm not nervous," I sighed. Which was a total lie. Butterflies were doing the tango in my stomach. Some were even playing cards. I wonder, when butterflies fall in love and get nervous, do humans appear in their stomach and start tickling them like crazy? That would be entertaining.

"Just remember, be flirty but never brag, okay?"

"Ella," I said patiently. "Fang is my best friend. We're just going to the movies. I don't need to flirt or any of that crap."

"Of course you do," she sighed. "If you want him to ask you out again, you have to be a flirt."

"I'm not even going to argue with you. You obviously don't know Fang very well; he hates it when girls act stupid and flirt." I stubbornly turned away from her.

Ella sighed and shook her head. "Fine, Max. Don't take my advice."

"Okay," I said quickly.

She frowned and left the room.

I waited on the couch, tapping my foot nervously and trying not to touch my straightened hair. According to Ella, if I petted it and twirled it all night, it would get wavy again. So I was training myself to drop the hair-twirling habit.

Seconds later, the doorbell rang. J.J. and Ella rocketed down the stairs as if on que and darted to the door. I heard the door opening and both their voices trilling, "HI FANG!"

"Uh, hi." I could barely hear his soft voice.

"Max will be right out!" Ella said, over-perky. I heard her bouncing steps echoing down the foyer as she entered the living room. Her eyes were wide and excited as she jumped up and down and motioned to me. I got up and followed her calmly to the front door.

What I saw made me blink in astonishment. Fang wasn't wearing all black. His shirt actually had hints of blue in it. Oh. My. God. This was so strange. The blue looked so weird on Fang that his black eyes and hair looked strange over the bright color.

"Nice look," I said with a sarcastic half-smile. I was glad that I had the uncanny ability to sound cool on the outside when I was freaking out on the inside. Like, this is how I think of it.

Me, on the outside: Cool as a popsicle, bro.

Me, on the inside: ASDFGHJKL FANG IN BLUE THAT IS SO WEIRD AIGHAFGHUAD IM NERVOUS BLAHHH BLAH AAAHHH BACON AAAHHH

I'm a simple-minded child. Bacon is always on the mind.

"You too," Fang said, returning my smirk.

My expression darkened. "Sisters," we both said at the same time, with an eye roll.

"That is so creepy!" J.J. blurted from behind me. "Did you guys practice that?"

"No," we said, at the same time again. We swiveled our heads to look at each other and frowned. At the same time.

"OMG you guys are like -" Ella began, but I cut her off by slipping outside and closing the door tightly.

"Sometimes the only way to shut Ella up is to put a door between you two," I said with a sigh.

He just smirked. "C'mon." I followed him over to his mom's car, which was waiting at the curb.

"Hi, Mrs. Thorne," I said sweetly, smiling at her in the mirror. I saw Fang roll his eyes and mutter something about angelic behavior and parents and I reached for his hand and pinched his palm. Hard. He jumped but wrapped his fingers around mine. I was glad that he couldn't see my cheeks turn red in the darkness.

Fang's mom smiled back at me. "Hello, sweetie," she said cheerfully. "Just think of me as your chauffeur for tonight; pretend I don't exist." She winked at me and I laughed.

"No problem." I smiled again.

The ride to the movies, was, however, silent and awkward. We didn't dare say a word with his mom in the car. That was just awkward.

We finally arrived at the McDonalds and slipped inside with one final goodbye to his mom. We got in line, Fang's fingers still intwined in mine. The silence between us was no longer awkward; it was peaceful. At least, until I saw _someone_ who was first in line.

"Duck," I muttered to Fang. He looked confused, but lowered down so his head was level with mine.

"Why am I ducking?" he asked.

I peered over the heads and easily found the red hair sticking out among everyone else. "Lissa's here," I said coolly.

"Oh sh-" I clapped a hand over his mouth before he could continue; there was a five-year-old in line in front of us with her teenage brother.

"Go hide in the bathrooms," I suggested.

Fang was just about to go make a run for it when someone's voice sliced through the awkward energy. "Hey Fang."

Lissa was standing there, one hip stuck out haughtily, her tray balanced between her hip and her hand.

"Hey, Lissa," Fang said, unphased.

Lissa's eyes slid over to me. "What's up?" she asked without ever turning away from me.

"We're just grabbing some dinner," Fang replied, swinging our hands obviously. I dug my nails into his palm, a warning; do NOT make things obvious.

Unfortunately, our hands were the first thing Lissa noticed. "How nice," she said through tight lips.

"Yep," Fang said cheerfully.

"Well, you two have fun," Lissa said in a disgustingly sugar-sweet voice. She turned away and motioned to someone standing against the counter. I watched in shock as Dylan detatched himself from the crowd and followed Lissa through the restaurant. When they found a table, Lissa very slowly and deliberately turned around and smirked at me before turning back to Dylan.

Fang yanked on my hand. "Stop staring," he whispered.

I raised one eyebrow at him. "You too." Hey, I'm an observant person.

He raised his eyebrow to match mine. "Are you jealous?" He jerked his chin over to the table. "That Dylan is with Lissa?" He worked towards a teasing tone, but I could see real worry in his eyes.

"No," I said sincerely. "Are _you_ jealous?"

He smirked. "No. But I think Dylan is."

"Why do you say that?" I wondered.

"Look at him," he said smugly. I glanced over at Dylan; he was staring at us while he shoveled greasy fries into his face.

I laughed, despite everything. "What a pig."

"I can eat messier than that," Fang said with a crooked smile.

"You say that like it's an accomplishment," I replied.

"You say that like it's not," he countered.

I would've replied to that, but we were at the front of the line now and Fang stepped forward to put in his order. I added in mine at the end and we stepped to the side to wait after paying. Fang was staring at me.

"What?" I asked defensively, raising a hand to cover my face.

Fang grabbed my hand and lowered it, but sadly, let go of my hand. "Nothing," he said with a trace of a sincere smile. "You just order a lot of food."

"I burn a lot of calories doing gymnastics," I said defensively.

"I never said it was a negative thing. Every time I took Lissa to McDonalds, she ordered one of those stupid kiddie meals and never finished it. But I'd bet ten bucks she snarfed down half her refridgerator at home." He smiled mockingly. "You're pretty much the only girl in the school that eats around us guys."

"That's because I've been sitting at co-ed tables at lunch since I was six," I replied. "And, I simply don't give a crap."

"I see," Fang said vaguely. A pimply teenager slid our food-filled tray over to us and I was about to grab it when Fang smoothly pushed my arms aside and grabbed the tray. He easily balanced it in one arm and hooked the other arm around my waist as if he was guiding me. If it were anyone but Fang, I would've had their arm broken in three places by now and standing over them while they begged for mercy. But this _was_ Fang, so I didn't comment and let him lead me around the fast food place.

We found a relatively clean table and sat down, immediately unwrapping our burgers and snarfing them down. I suddenly realized I hadn't had lunch, and I'd only had a bowl of cereal and a strip of bacon for breakfast. Just thinking about bacon made me even more hungry. I was finished with my burger in two seconds flat. I sipped slowly at my soda, not wanting brain freeze, which I constantly seemed to get from soda with too much ice.

When I looked up, Fang was laughing. "Hungry?"

"I didn't have lunch," I said with a frown.

"We can get ice cream after the movie," Fang offered.

I smiled happily. "Okay."

"Are you done?" he asked, eyeing the empty wrappers in front of me.

"Yep." I slurped up the last of my soda and stood up to throw it out in the trashcan next to me. I lifted my arms over my head and stretched out, bending backwards slightly. Sitting still and eating for more than five minutes always made me stiff and tired. Just stretching reminded me of that disastrous day with Ella's white shirt, and I smiled. Even though it had been horrible at the time, I could look back on that and laugh now. It had been a funny day.

"Ready?" Fang had dumped the plate and was standing next to me, _very close_. I tried to think through the haze clouding my brain and nodded. He smiled and took my hand, and we walked out without a second glance at Lissa and Dylan's table.

Even though I felt someone's eyes on my back all the way to the movie theater.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so I didn't really wanna write the WHOLE date in one chapter and it's like eleven and I just took up an hour of my night watching Dance Moms and another hour watching this so yeah. and my mom doesn't know I'm still on.. so I'll try to get the rest of the date up tomorrow, hopefully.<strong>

**&Who felt the earthquake? A lot of my friends didn't feel it, but I did :( It went all the way up the east coast, and I was upstairs during it and I didn't know what was going on. But it was really scary cause everything started shaking and the windows were rattling. And now there's a hurricane making it's way up the east coast. Great, just great.**

**I'm not too happy with this chapter. Or the last one, for that matter. I NEED OPINIONS. Take them down & rewrite them, or leave them up? HELP MEEE**

**AND I'M SOSOSOSO SORRY I'M GETTING SO SLOW WITH UPDATING. Even though.. I'm pretty sure my dog just peed behind me. But I'm too scared to look. To look or not to look?**

**I had a conversation with Cleverbot today.  
>Cleverbot: Do you like redwood trees?<br>Me: What?  
>Cleverbot: Your work.<br>Me: What?  
>Cleverbot: You're not over-keen.<br>Me: What?  
>Cleverbot: Do you enjoy talking to people?<br>Me: What?  
>I was so confused over the redwood treeswork/over-keen/talking to people thing. I was like wait, what?**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	33. Why Can Nothing Go Right

**That awkward moment when you're breaking out in a cold sweat because your dog is downstairs in a dog crate right now.**

**Btw you don't have to read this whole thing.. I haven't answered people in a while and I just want to.. so I'd recommend just skipping to the actual chapter. Unless I wrote a response to you. Then you should look.**

**Aku12- This amazingly entertaining robot online. It has conversations with you. And by the way, it's really weird how we both got dogs at almost the same time. Creeeeepy.**

**tjbtn- No. Thank God. Lmao, I would hate for her to pee behind me because I have carpet and 1) It would stain 2) It would make my room smell like dog pee for days and 3) I'd have to clean it up. :P**

**goldensunflowers- lol everyone's expecting an apocalypse or something this weekend. Because of the earthquake and now to the hurricane. Sometimes it's soo inconvenient to live on the east coast. And that earthquake scared the crap out of me lol. I was just sitting there peacefully and all the sudden the windows started rattling & stuff started shaking.**

**MydniteShadow1996- Yay for purple hair! :)**

**rocketdog791- I do that too! I only get like a soda or a shake or something because grease disgusts me /: lol**

**Beauty'sInTheEye- You're lucky you didn't experience it! It freaked me out so bad. My friend is SO mad that she didn't feel it, cause she was at the zoo.**

**Sigh. My dog had a rawhide bone a foot long, and she chewed it so much that now it's down to about four inches. In three days. Now, keep in mind that my dog is a three-month-old puppy. And she left rawhide shreddings all over the house.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except that lavender pearl nail polish in front of me that is tempting me. I wanna paint my nails with it. Do I do it? Of course I do. And while I'm at it, I don't own MR.**

* * *

><p>"Would you rather. . .have Dr. Pepper or Pepsi?" Fang asked, staring up at the menu board behind the counter.<p>

"Dr. Pepper," I replied promptly, shoving my ticket deep into my pocket. I had a tendency to loose things if they weren't securely in my pocket at all times.

"Same," he said. "Your turn."

Out of sheer boredom of waiting on the long ling, Fang and I had struck up a game of What Would You Rather. A stupid, girly game, but it passed time.

"Would you rather have your hair dyed bright pink or bright blue?"

Fang made a face. "Neither."

I sighed in irritation. He had done that on the last question, too, when I asked him if he would rather wear a skirt or a dress. Things had almost gotten seriously violent when I'd finally forced an answer out of him. "Just pick one, Fang."

He sighed too. "Bright blue."

"Me too."

"What can I get for you?" a female voice asked. I turned around to see a girl in a red polo shirt with the name HALLEY printed on the name tag pinned to her shirt pocket. She flicked her glossy dark brown hair over her shoulder and smiled at Fang.

I almost laughed when Fang deliberately turned away from her to look at me. "Soda?"

"Dr. Pepper," I said with a smile.

"Make that two, please," Fang said, flashing a quick, rare smile at the girl. She smiled back, but the expression looked feral. I 'accidentally' elbowed Fang in the ribs. Hard. He said a really bad word under his breath that I tucked away in my mind for future usage. He went to elbow me back, but I skipped nimbly out of the way. He laughed and looped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side as Halley returned with two large drinks and set them on the counter.

"Will that be all?" she asked unhappily, he face sour as her eyes locked on Fang's arm, slung over my shoulders.

"One large popcorn, please," Fang said politely. She nodded mutely and went over to the popcorn case, shoveling some buttery goodness into a big paper bag with AMC Theaters printed on the side. She placed that on the counter along with the sodas.

"Does that complete your order?" she asked, shooting Fang another flirty smile. Aparently, she hadn't gotten the hint.

Fang returned her smile while I watched on in silent horror. "Yes, it does." He slid a few bills across the counter, saying, "Keep the change." Then he grabbed his soda and the popcorn and lead my through the crowd. I clutched my soda in both hands, stubbornly refusing his hand when he held it out to me. We stopped at one of the benches outside the theater. We had ten minutes until the movie started. Well, actually, we had ten minutes before those endless previews started.

"What's wrong?" Fang asked, a mild note of curiosity in his voice as he set his drink and the popcorn down on the bench. He extended his arm toward me, but I quickly stepped away. I wasn't done being mad at him.

"Max." His voice took on a stern quality.

"Fang," I mimicked.

"Are you bugged about that girl at the counter?"

I stayed silent.

He cracked a smile. "Are you jealous?"

I scowled.

He chuckled lightly. "That's surpisingly adorable, you know," he informed me, reaching out to give me a big bear hug. I stayed unmoving, like a living stone. He pulled back slightly to look at me, seeming confused. "Max? Are you really that bothered by it?"

I shrugged. "Whatever," I muttered, turning away so he couldn't see my face.

"Maximum Ride." He said my name slowly and deliberately. I felt his hand under my chin, turning my face to him. "Do you honestly think I could like a girl like that?" He sounded very serious.

"I guess not," I said reluctantly.

"And you do know that I care about you and I was just playing around, right?"

I sighed lightly. "I guess now I do."

"Good." He briefly pressed his lips against mine. The butterflies had turned into a stampede of buffalos in my stomach. He finally smiled and dropped his hand, grabbing his popcorn and soda. I grabbed mine and glanced behind me one final time to see the girl behind the counter staring daggers at me. I smiled to myself and skipped into the theater behind Fang.

* * *

><p>"I wanna see that," I said for the sixth time, bouncing eagerly in my seat. I was really keyed up, and doubted I could stay still for a full two hours. The previews had started and so far, I'd said that I wanted to see every single one. Of course, I probably wouldn't, but that was always how my life went. I shouted "I WANNA SEE THAT!" at every single preview, and forgot about it the second the next one came on.<p>

"You wanna see everything," Fang muttered.

I drummed my fingers against the armrest. "I know."

"Any chance you'll calm down, even a little bit, before the movie starts?"

"I dunno. I drank the whole soda I got at McDonalds. It had caffeine."

Fang groaned. "Of course. Remind me to keep you away from caffeine."

I would've responded, by the lights dimmed down even more, and the screen went dark. There wasn't a single sound in the theater except for the steady breathing of fifty or so people. I felt Fang's hand on mine on the armrest, and was glad that the darkness hid my easy blushes. Then the screen lit up and the movie started, and I was distracted. I was actually calm and still as I watched the opening scene of the movie unfold before me.

About halfway through the movie, I realized that the couple in front of us was awkwardly making out. I tried to distract myself with the movie again, but it was hard, because I was sitting next to someone I had kissed. Fang seemed to be aware of the couple too, and he sat ramrod straight in his chair, looking everywhere but at me. Eventually there was just too much awkward energy between us.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I muttered hastily, standing up and bolting from the theater. Once I was out in the lobby again, I took a deep, calming breath. I could smell the buttery popcorn and hear it popping. There weren't a lot of other noises. There weren't a lot of movies starting right now - most of them were in session - so the lobby was relatively quiet. I quickly slipped past the girl at the counter and dashed for the bathrooms.

I stared at myself in the mirror. Deep, calming breaths, Max, you're fine. I reached up my hand to tousle my hair, a nervous habit, but stopped myself just in time. I carefully lowered my hand and inspected my hair. Still ruler-straight, thankfully. I never thought I'd be the type to worry about my hair frizzing out, but at that time it was a legit concern for me. Ella must be rubbing off on me.

Since I didn't actually have to go to the bathroom, I wondered how long I should linger in here. I didn't want to be in here for too little time; Fang would be suspicious. If I stayed here for too long he'd come looking for me, thinking that Dylan had showed up and murdered me.

Checking to make sure no one else was in the bathroom, I pulled myself up to sit on the counter. I watched the time on my phone, counting out three minutes - that should be long enough that he wouldn't get suspicious. And, hopefully, long enough that the couple in front of us would decide that the movie was more interesting than each other.

When my three mintues was up, I hopped off the counter and headed back into the theater. The movie was almost over when I took my place next to Fang again. Luck was with me; there was no one in the two seats in front of us. I settled gratefully into my chair just as the ending credits started and music started playing. Everyone clapped and the lights went on. People were strolling down the stairs, chattering about the movie and holding empty popcorn buckets. I stretched; sitting still for an hour and a half had made me extremely cramped and cranky.

"Shall we go get ice cream?" Fang teased. He looked a little pale and sweaty but I dismissed it. It was probably nothing.

"Sure," I said. "Let's go."

We had to call Fang's mom outside the theater to let her know to come pick us up thirty minutes later at the ice cream place two blocks from the movie theater.

"Thanks, Mom," Fang said, and hung up just as we passed the counter. The girl we'd seen before was just exiting with her coat over her arm, and 'accidentally' smashed into Fang. She pretended to trip and her things went flying everywhere.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Fang apologized quickly. He helped her gather her things and helped her up, while I stood there expressionlessly. When he took her hand to help her up, I turned and silently left the theater.

The air outside was nice and cool and refreshing. I crouched down against the wall, just out of reach of the light of the streetlamp on the curb. I took a deep breath and shakily pressed my sweating palms agains the cold concrete. They felt better instantly. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for my hands. I folded my arms across my knees and pillowed my forehead against them. I took a few more deep breaths, and that helped. Once I had my emotions in check, I let myself think.

I was shaking, I was so mad. Fang knew that his flirting was bothering me, but he went and did it again as soon as we left the movie. And he very rarely used the word 'sorry', and when he did his voice was a flat monotone. But he'd seemed so sincerely sorry that he'd knocked that stupid Halley girl over. What was even worse was that he held her hand for a second too long when he helped her up.

I wondered if I should just leave now. My house wasn't _that_ far away. Of course, walking that distance would probably take me about a full forty-five minutes. Another thought popped into my head; maybe I was overreacting. I mean, Fang _had_ kissed me when we were in her line of sight.

I had no freaking idea what to do.

I was tired and still shaking.

The cold was starting to seep through my jacket and enter my bones, making me shiver.

And Fang was still inside the theater.

My life sucks.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm not making Fang a player. Promise.<strong>

**I'm just kinda sitting here waiting for a hurricane while it's pouring buckets outside. If you're not living in an area where the hurricane's gonna hit, BE VERRRRY GRATEFUL. It's pretty scary, just knowing that you're gonna get hit with a hurricane and you're just waiting for it and wondering when it's gonna hit and knowing that the electricity will eventually go out.**

**CAN YOU FEEL IT? CAN YOU TAKE IT? CAN YOU COME EMBRACE IT? ALL OF THIS ELECTRICITY. DO IT RIGHT NOW, RI-RI-RIGHT NOW, TURN THE VOLUME UP LOUD, GIVE ME YOUR ELECTRICITY.**

**Sorry. I wrote electricity and that song immediately came to mind.**

**My dog is still in her dog crate. -shivers-**

**My friend told me the other day that Brenda Song is pregnant. I can never watch The Suite Life of Zack and Cody in the same way ever again.**

**Lol my brother just started karate. It's $180 a month. So now he's the expensive child, and I'm the innocent inexpensive child, because my dance costs only $60 a month. :D Plus costume. But even adding the costume money it doesn't equal the money that my mom is paying for karate. And I was arguing with my dad at dinner;  
>Me: It's no fair, he gets to go twice a week and I only get to go once.<br>Dad: Well, he has to earn his belts. That takes a long time.  
>Me: (while making an are-you-crazy face) So does choreographing a dance. And perfecting it. And making sure everyone's in the right place at the right time.<br>Dad: Yes, but karate also takes a lot of hard work and dedication.  
>Me: SO. DOES. DANCE.<br>The dancers of fanfiction must unite over karate. I have to prove a point to my dad.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	34. Hidden Feelings

**Um, hi?**

**I realize that this update is super super super late and I'm really sorry bout that /: But now I'm gonna give you all my excuses, which you don't have to read because they're not really important.**

**Okay well first, I have been wounded. Horrible, right? No, not really. I just hit the whole left side of my face on a pool ladder and I have this ginormic bruise going from my temple down my cheekbone. My hair doesn't cover it. And - wait for it - I got so tan over the summer that my concealer no longer matches my skin tone. Brilliant.  
>And I had to go back to school shopping. And walk my dog like every half hour, because when we couldn't take her out during the hurricane, she got the idea that it's okay to pee on the rug and eat my cat's food.<br>School is starting in like five days. That depresses me.  
>I could totally tell you I lost power during Hurricane Irene but I didn't, so yeah...<strong>

**Lol I had plans with my friend when suddenly Irene hit, and they were cancelled. So, she texts me and says  
>Friend: Stupid Irene. What a whoreicane.<br>I was dying laughing. Omg**

**Btw, I thank all you dancers out there, while I still respect people that do karate. I don't doubt for a second that it's hard work, all sports are hard work (yes, I count karate and dance as sports). I was just pointing out to my dad that karate isn't the only thing that demands hard work! When the recital is only a month away and our dance is completely done, my dance teachers drills it into us. She just makes us run it over and over and over and fixes things. We could run it fifteen times in one class and we'd still have to keep going. And don't even get me started on the work required for competitions. It's really hard work.**

**By the way, I think I'll stick to only really answering people if it's a question. Normally I'd just PM someone, but I don't really like PMing :S So whateva, dudddeee.**

**Beauty'sInTheEye- I take hip hop. It's really fun for me, I've tried out other classes but hip hop is like. . . I guess you could say it's my forte, lmao.**

**&This chapter is in Fang's POV because of a request from Icy. and Fire :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

"So, yeah, it was nice to meet you, but I really have to go," I said for the third time, praying that this time she'd stop talking. I was distracted, imagining how mad Max would be when I finally escaped Halley. I shuddered involuntarily.

"Nice to meet you too, but what school to you go to? I mean, I haven't seen you around at my school at all, so I was just wondering. . .?" She trailed off, tilting her head like an idiot and twirling a strand of hair around her finger. I couldn't help but notice that she was wearing WAY too much makeup - Max didn't wear that much makeup. Well, she didn't wear any makeup at all, actually.

"What school do _you_ go to?" I countered, not wanting to give out any unnecessary details. The last thing I needed was her 'coincidentally' showing up outside my school one day. It was a nightmare just thinking about it.

"Jefferson High," she replied, batting her mascara-covered lashes. (**A/N: This school completely made up.**)

"Cool," I said tonelessly. "I _really_ have to go."

Her expression changed. "Why?"

"My girlfriend is waiting for me outside," I blurted.

Oh no. I did not.

Did I just say that Max is my girlfriend?

"Oh." Halley's eyes darkened. "Well, see ya later." She turned and stormed off in the opposite direction, leaving me dazed in her wake. I wasn't the kind of person to just blurt a thing like that without thinking. I slowly made my way outside. I was kinda fearing Max's wrath, and taking my time. But when I realized that every wasted second would make Max angrier, I hurried up.

I shoved open the doors and quickly stepped outside, looking for Max. A flash of panic rippled through me when I didn't see her right away. And it was getting darker and harder to see. I squinted into the darkness, my heart pounding, expecting the worst. "Max?" I called softly.

No answer.

Maybe she left.

No she didn't, Fang, get it together.

"Maaaax?"

Silence.

What if she walked into a dark alley by herself and she got kidnapped?

Max is smarter than that.

"MMAAAAXXXXX!"

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I wrestled it out of my pocket as quickly as I could.

Max: _Look a little, retard._

I glanced around. "Max?"

Another vibration.

Max: _You're terrible at hide and seek_.

I walked down the sidewalk a little until I was standing right in the light of the streetlamp. "Max, come out, come out wherever you are." I walked to the side another step, and I heard someone draw in a hissing breath.

"Dammit, Fang, you stepped on my finger." I glanced down in confusion and saw Max sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest, massaging her pinky finger. Her brown eyes were familiar as she looked up at me, but that was all I recognized. The look in her eyes was unreadable and foreign.

"Oh. Sorry." I held out a hand to help her up, but she ignored it. "Is your finger okay?"

"Yeah. It's fine. I've had worse." The words were stiff, like lines delivered from a horrible actress.

"Okay. Are you up for ice cream?" Our conversation seemed weird. Suddenly I was the one having to supply most of the conversation, while she uttered three-words-tops sentences.

She made a face. "Not really. All that popcorn makes me feel like I'm gonna throw up."

"You wanna just go home now?"

She nodded.

" 'Kay." I texted my mom and told her to come pick us up and she replied almost immediately with an 'okay' and a smiley face. "My mom is on her way," I reported.

Max didn't say anything.

"Hey," I said softly. "Are you okay?"

She looked up; her eyes were hard. "Yeah. Never better."

"Okay, sure, Max, let's pretend that's believable."

"What? That's not believable?" She forced a smile.

"No, it is. We're pretending it's believable, remember?"

She turned away for a second, but I could see the side of her face and see that she was smiling. A real smile.

"So the actress career path is out for me?" she asked.

"Well, not if everyone pretends that you're believable."

She punched my arm. "Quit that."

"Quit what?"

"The 'pretending my acting is believable' thing."

"Sure. Let's just pretend I'm gonna quit doing that now."

"Stop!" She actually laughed. For the first time since the movie ended. We were both laughing, staring at each other, enjoying a nice little cheesy movie moment together. . .

When my mom's van pulled up obnoxiously to the curb and ruined it.

* * *

><p>Max POV<p>

Okay, I admit it: I faked a stomach ache so I could go home.

I wasn't sure I could handle the awkward walk to the ice cream place. It was really hard to give Fang the cold shoulder because he _always_ found some way to make me laugh or smile or something and crack the charade. And then I had to start all over again; stop laughing, calm down, expressionless face. By then he had me laughing again.

The ride home was awkward. Instead of leaving my hand resting on the seat, allowing Fang to grab my hand, I kept my arms tightly crossed, my hands curled into fists. When we got to my house, Fang got out of the car when I did and walked close to me up the walkway.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

He smiled mockingly. "What, I'm not allowed to walk you to the door?"

"No, you can." I bit my lip and looked down to focus on not tripping as I walked up the porch steps. Like I needed another concussion?

When I reached the door, it dawned on me that this might be the horrible movie cliche walk home is-he-gonna-kiss-me-good-night kind of thing. I focused on digging my house key out of my pocket while Fang stood there silently. When I finally found the key, I turned my head towards Fang while I slipped the key into the lock.

"That was fun," I said, trying to sound upbeat.

"Yeah." Fang smirked, like he was enjoying some private joke that I'd never understand.

"So, see you later?" It came out sounding like a question.

"Sure. See you later." He gave me a quick hug and turned to the window next to the door. "Hey, Ella." Then he turned and sauntered off.

Disbelievingly, I twisted around so I could see into the window. There was no one there. I turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open.

And saw Nudge crouching in the foyer. It was obvious she'd been pressing her ear against the door.

"Someone explain," I demanded.

Just then Carolyn appeared at the top of the steps and bolted down. "I didn't see anything!" she pouted. "I couldn't hear anything, either. All I could -" Nudge kicked her shin and only then did Carolyn notice me standing there. "Oh, hi Max! I was just, um. . ." She trailed off, her blue eyes wide.

I dismissed their weird behavior and walked slowly into the living room. The window was shoved wide open, the way it never was, and the side table was shoved away from the window in an unnatural way. I saw Ella's hair peeking out from behind the curtains. She was crouching under the open window.

"I demand to know what's going on." Even though it was pretty obvious.

Ella's turned slowly so that her face was peeking out from the curtains. "Oh, uh, we were watching because. . .we thought Mom had a new boyfriend and we wanted to hear what they said when they came home."

"Why would Mom be on a date tonight? She's working overtime. Remember?" I arched an eyebrow and tapped my foot. "How many other people did you have posted to spy on Fang and I?"

Just then I heard the door open again and walked back into the foyer to see J.J. coming back inside with dirt on her knees and leaves in her hair. "Hi, Max," she said sheepishly.

"Why were you guys spying?" I folded my arms across my chest.

"No reason," Carolyn said as casually as she could manage.

I raised an eyebrow and stared Nudge down. She was usually the weakest. Her need to talk usually overruled the need to keep a secret. She was squirming.

That was when she exploded. "Okay, okay, we wanted to spy and see what would happen with Fang and you at the end of the date but we didn't know when you were coming home so Ella pretended to be your mom and called my mom and asked her when Max was gonna be home. And we were gonna invite Tess but the whole thing with Iggy. . .yeah. It was like the first date both of you guys ever had and we hoped that you guys would make it extra special and have your first kiss."

I tried not to bite my lip guiltily. Nudge still thought that Fang and I had yet to get our first kiss. . .awkward. Even though Fang wasn't really my first kiss. . .okay moving on. That story can wait til later.

"Calm down, Nudge," I said, glad my own voice sounded calm. "It wasn't even really a date. It was kinda just an. . .outing. As friends." I slipped off my coat and hung it from the peg next to the door.

"It was so a date," Ella chimed in.

"I'm not even arguing with your flawed ideas, so goodbye, don't bother me." I rushed up the stairs and shut the door tightly behind me.

I had the chills. I changed into my flannel PJs that had little pictures of pizza and cupcakes and other good foods all over them. Usually, just looking at the little cartoon pictures of food made me hungry. But tonight, looking at them made me queasy. I looked away as I pulled on my Snuggie. Those things are really comfy. Have you ever noticed how weird the commercials are? Like, they're all at a ballgame in Snuggies. And they're the only people in the crowd wearing an oversized blanket with sleeves.

I connected my iPod to my dock and set my songs on shuffle, curling up on my bed. I realized halfway through the first song that I wasn't even really listening to it, instead thinking about how nauseous I felt, and trying to let it pass. I took deep breaths and focused on calming things. And before I knew it, I was out.

* * *

><p>I woke up at two in the morning only to rush to the bathroom and puke my guts out.<p>

Sorry if I just grossed you out. But maybe all that popcorn really did upset my stomach.

So anyway, my mom woke up to find me with my head propped up on a towel on the side of the bathtub, asleep. She tried to convince me to go back to my room, but I resisted, because I'd just have to rush right back to the bathroom again. She brought me a glass of water and some saltine crackers that might help settle my stomach. I slowly sipped the water but ignored the crackers altogether; just thinking about eating again made me gag.

Ella came in around noon, holding my ringing cell phone. "It's for you." Well, duh. It was my cell phone. I grabbed my phone from her and checked the caller ID window briefly; Fang. I flipped it open.

"He-"

"Thank God, you finally answered." Fang's relieved voice interrupted mine.

"What's going on?" I asked. My voice sounded horrible. All scratchy and ugh.

"I think the more important question is what's going on with you. You sound horrible. No offense."

"None taken. I have the stomach flu or something. So you have something incredibly urgent to tell me. . .?" I prompted.

"Oh, yeah. Well, it's not really urgent, but I called you this morning, and you didn't pick up. So I called you like an hour later in case you were still sleeping. And I know you don't sleep past eleven, so yeah. I just got worried when you didn't pick up." Fang certainly was a chatterbox today.

"Well, I've been up since two in the morning throwing up," I said brightly.

"Well then," Fang said. "Feel better. You know that today's Sunday, right?"

I thought about it. "I guess?"

"There's school tomorrow. Are you going?"

"I dunno," I groaned. "If this passes."

"Want me to bring you some soup?" He was laughing.

"No!" I said, more forcefully than I'd intended. "Sorry. I can't even look at food without throwing up. I ate too much popcorn, I think."

"Well get better, 'kay? I gotta go cause we're looking at houses. . .again." He sounded depressed.

"Oh." It felt like someone had shoved their fist down my throat. "I'd say 'have fun', but that's not really fun, is it?"

"Nah," Fang said. "I'll text you later, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed. "Bye."

"Bye."

I snapped my phone shut and leaned my head against the towel again and tried very hard not to think.

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, I felt better the next morning.<p>

You know what that means?

That's right. Cheerleading tryouts.

I shamefully (read: gleefully) admit to skipping out on them. At the end of the day, I conveniently 'forgot' and rushed out of the building as quickly as I could with Fang. Ella's gonna be mad, but whatever. I'm not going to be a cheerleader. N-O. End of story. Why are we even having this discussion? We're not. Okay, let's move on.

In other news, October was almost over. You know what that means: Halloween.

When Ella came home after cheerleading tryouts, she was livid. She insisted that I go for day two of tryouts, but resisting her pleas and threats was easier than I'd thought. She then proceeded to beg me to go shopping with her for Halloween costumes. Honestly, I was done dressing up for Halloween. I hadn't even been that crazy about it when I was six years old. I mean, all the costumes for girls under the age of ten are mostly Cinderella and fairies and all that crap. And costumes for girls over the age of ten are mainly stuff like nurses and bees and ladybugs and referees with tops cut really low and skirts cut really short.

"Ella, I'm not even going trick-or-treating!" I yelled as she followed me through the house. I was mindlessly walking around, hoping she'd get distracted by something and just leave me alone.

"What are you gonna wear to school?" she protested.

"75 percent of the kids at school aren't going to dress up. You'll be the part of the juvenille 25 percent that are still dressing up."

"No, the 25 percent that decided to loosen up a little and have some fun," Ella corrected.

I sighed in frustration. "I'm not dressing up."

"PLEEASE."

"NO."

"PLEASE."

"NOOOO."

"PLEASEEEEEE!"

"NO!"

"PLEEEE-"

"Uh, hey."

We both turned to see Fang standing in the doorway awkwardly.

"What the hell are you doing in my house?" I demanded.

"Well, the door was wide open, and I'm pretty sure I left my cell phone in your living room after we finished homework." He folded his arms. "But go on with your screaming match like I never interrupted."

I forced a laugh. "You're so annoying. Go get your phone." I wasn't completely over the movie theater disaster. I was careful to keep my feelings hidden, though; I didn't want Fang to think that I was being ridiculously mad and jealous when we weren't even really officially together. Even though I kind of wished we were. It would spare me all the confusion and jealousy and being unsure of myself.

" 'Kay." Fang disappeared for a moment and reappeared seconds later with his phone in his hand. "Thanks. See ya later." He jogged out and shut the door behind him.

There was silence for a couple seconds.

"PLEEASE?"

"NO!"

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

I was going crazy.

It was so obvious that Max was working really hard to hide something from me. It was driving me nuts, but I kept quiet. I kind of wished that I had the guts to just officially ask her out already. I mean, usually there was just confusion and jealousy and stuff between us. I swear, the stress was turning me into a totally different person. I had started talking in full sentences more. I was becoming more Nudge-like everyday.

Girls are complex and confusing, right? Okay, well, Max was complex and confusing squared. And I didn't have a clue what I was going to do.

* * *

><p><strong>I kinda just tossed that last bit in as an afterthought, kinda to show that Max and Fang are thinking the same thing. Y'know? Yeeeaahh..<strong>

**Okay, well, school starts Tuesday, and you know what that means.**

**Me being 10x slower with my updates than I already am. So I apologize in advance. And then dance starts two weeks from Tuesday, and while I'm excited about that, it'll make me even slower. And last but not least, I'm going to CCD starting the 12th. And season three of Glee is coming back on the 20th also, so I'm gonna take up even more time watching it.**

**I'm kinda speed-posting this cause I'm leaving for my aunt's house in ten minutes. I have a reaaalllyyyy big family and this is like our first family party in a while.**

**Okay byebye.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	35. Something's Not Right Here

**Omg guise guess what :3**

**I thought that dance starts on the 22nd.. but it starts next week. :D AAH CELEBRATE GUISE. It put me in a good mood and I was like I COULD CLIMB THE EIFFEL TOWER! But I decided to channel my energy and willpower into writing.. so yeah.**

**livelaughloveanddance- omg yay another person who watches Dance Moms. I must ask.. Team Maddie or Team Chloe? Even though my fave is probs Brooke.**

**AM I GETTING BETTER AT WRITING SHORTER AN'S GUISE? :D TELL ME CAUSE IF I'M MAKING PROGRESS THAT MAKES ME EXCITED.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. Although I wish I did.**

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

"So. . .what do you guys think?"

I looked up momentarily. "It's fine," I said curtly, and looked back down.

My mom frowned at me and turned to Nudge.

"I really like the backyard area and such 'cause it's really pretty. And the room upstairs, on the right? I call that one. 'Cause it's already painted lavendar and it has that really cool window that looks over the backyard. And the kitchen is also really awesome." Nudge looked around approvingly at the spacious kitchen.

Mom smiled. "I'm glad you like it, Nudge." She leaned on the counter island and looked at me in concern. "What's so horrible about this house?"

I looked at her vacantly. "Nothing. It's fine," I repeated.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Don't pull that crap on me, Fang. You're obviously not thrilled about the house and I want to know why."

"Because I'm not thrilled about moving," I said with a shrug.

A crease appeared on her forehead but she didn't say anything.

"Well," Dad said, reappearing and rubbing his hands together briskly. "What do you think?"

"I, personally, love it," Mom gushed. "It's got nice space and it's in good condition, and very pretty besides that." She glanced around appreciatively.

Dad nodded. "I agree." He raised his eyebrows at me.  
>I shrugged. "It's fine."<p>

Dad frowned but didn't comment. "Monique?"

"Daddy, I really wish you would call me Nudge for once. And I love the house."

"That's good," Dad said slowly.

"That's very good," another voice said. I turned and stared impassively at Anne Walker, our realtor. (**A/N: Lol my mom and dad's realtor was named Anne. Didn't like her very much. Maybe it's just cause she was helping us move. And I didn't want to.**)

Anne rested a hand on the counter island. "Are you guys gonna take it?"

Mom and Dad exchanged a glance. "I think we'd like to think about it a bit more first," Mom said nervously.

The realtor waved a hand. "Take your time," she said with a smile.

I wanted to barf.

* * *

><p>Headaches. Don't you just hate them?<p>

All of this talk of _moving_ and _closing costs_ and _inspections_ was making my head spin. I needed to talk to Max. While still cradling my head with one hand, I turned and bumped the mouse hooked up to my laptop and the screen glowed to life. I clicked over to instant messaging and checked to see who was online. As always, Max was on, with the little idle icon next to her name. I'd bet ten bucks she was five feet away from her computer.

Fang: _Yo. You there?  
><em>Max: _When am I not?  
><em>Fang: _True dat.  
><em>Max: _So what's up with the house thing?_  
>Fang: <em>My mom and dad found one everyone likes. We might be buying it. :(<em>  
>Max: <em>:O Already? Don't you have til January to find a house?<em>  
>Fang: <em>Yeah. So we found one early, hurray. Note sarcasm<em>.  
>Max: <em>:((( Do you know when you're moving?<em>  
>Fang: <em>I don't even know if we're moving yet. We still have to make an offer on the house.<em>  
>Max: <em>This sounds really bad, but I hope they don't accept your offer lol<em>  
>Fang: <em>Haha me too<em>  
>Max: <em>Ella is at my door yelling at me for not going to the cheerleading tryouts.<em>  
>Fang: <em>Tell her Fang says wassup<em>  
>Max: <em>No thanks<em>  
>Fang: <em>Fine. Be mean<em>  
>Max: <em>Sure. Gotta go. See you tomorrow.<em>  
>Fang: <em>k. bye<em>

She logged off almost immediately after I sent the message. I sighed and closed the window and shut down my computer. There was nothing to do now but take a nice hot shower and go to bed. (Hey, who doesn't like nice warm showers? I might be this big macho dude who comes off with as much emotion as Kristen Stewart's facial expressions, but I still enjoy my hot showers.)

God, Nudge is rubbing off on me.

* * *

><p>Max POV<p>

Is it really _that_ easy to find a house?

I mean, I would think that they would at least keep looking in case there was one they liked better. But I guess not? Hopefully. Maybe. Maybe they'd decide while looking over all the paperwork that it would logical to look a little more. Crossing my fingers.

It was one in the morning. I had been kept up all night, imagining several different ways the whole moving situation could play out. Wanna hear some? Of course you don't, but I'll tell you anyway.

1) Fang moves and finds a girlfriend and never speaks to me again and I become emo and die with five cats as my only company.

Let's hope option one doesn't happen.

2) His parents decide that they'll move to the house that's for sale right behind mine. Then everyone's happy!

Let's hope option two does happen.

3) They forget.

Not likely.

4) Fang tells his parents that he's through living with their standards and comes over to my house and sweeps me off my feet and carries me into the sunset where we decide to book a plane to Hawaii with money we suddenly have and spend the rest of our happy teenage lives there.

. . .I have to admit, I think I was getting a little loopy from exaustion when I came up with that last one.

With an irritated sigh, I leaned over and yanked my iPod out of the dock. I put my songs on shuffle and settled in again.

The first song was White Horse. I totally would've been okay with that if not for the whole connection to Fang. . .so, skip.

The next was Somewhere Only We Know. I skipped it.

After that came Torn. Annoyed by the constant connections to Fang, I powered it off and tossed it across the room. I heard something fall over and decided I'd deal with it in the morning as I fell asleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning was rainy and miserable. We were already halfway through October, exactly two and a half weeks away from Halloween. I had to dress warmer than usual, actually taking out my raincoat for the first time since I'd actually got the thing. I didn't really like it; it was powder blue. My aunt had picked it out as a birthday present. At least it would be somewhat useful. I pulled the hood up over my head and peeked out the window set into the door, at Fang's house. I had to pause and do a double-take because something wasn't right. Fang wasn't sitting under the porch overhang.<p>

I texted him quickly - _Where are you?_ - and waited anxiously. When I didn't get a reply within two mintues, I called his cell. No answer. I hung up and tried the home phone. No answer.

My mind immediately flew to the worst - they'd moved out overnight. They were all in the hospital with acute skin diseases. Their power had gone out.

I forced myself to relax and stepped out into the downpour. I dialed my mom's number and held my phone under my hood, safely out of the rain. When she answered, I barely gave her a chance to say hello before I was demanding information from her. She said that she'd heard nothing unusual about Fang's family and told me I shouldn't worry too much. Fang or Nudge probably had a doctor's appointment or something and had to leave early that morning. She told me I shouldn't worry.

When I hung up, I focused intently on forcing myself to believe what my mom had told me. If I thought too much about alternatives, I would start freaking out again. So I kept myself thinking positively during the whole walk to school.

At my locker, Carolyn walked up to me. "Where's Fang?" she asked immediately. The fact that we weren't joined at the hip at the moment was probably pretty suspicious.

"I don't know," I replied honestly, wiping my sopping wet hair away from my eyes. Turns out that raincoat didn't really help.

Shock flickered through her eyes. "Woah," she muttered.

"I know," I said under my breath, so low I don't even know if she heard it.

I was antsy all during homeroom, waiting for the bell to ring so I could escape to social studies. Maybe he had come early for a club or activity or something and hadn't been able to meet me this morning. But he'd certainly be in first period, right?

Nope. Fang's seat remained hauntingly empty.

Nudge was in gym, which was weird. If she was here, shouldn't Fang be? Well, not necessarily. But still.

"Hey, Nudge, where's Fang?" I asked, saying the words so fast they nearly blurred together.

She laughed lightly. "I should've suspected you'd be worried. He told me to tell you he's fine. He just lost his cell phone last night and he got sick this morning. He thinks it's the same thing you have. Maybe it was a stomach bug."

I felt relief wash through me. He was okay. "Oh. Good. I was really worried." Now that I knew Fang was okay, I felt oddly light and giddy.

The day without Fang was _reaaalllyy_ boring. I found myself getting more and more impatient as the day progressed. Walking home alone at the end of the day felt weird. Without Fang walking at my left, I felt weirdly empty and exposed. I glanced at his house quickly when I reached mine. The light in his room was on. Maybe he was on IM. I rushed to my room, more excited than I honestly should be. He wasn't on IM. This was getting unhealthy.

I forced myself to calmly do my homework - alone, which felt more weird than I can put into words at the moment. I usually did homework with Fang, and we usually fooled around. When I saw something funny on the sheet, I turned to my left, expecting Fang to be there. But he wasn't there.

I should've been reassured by Nudge's story. But for some reason I wasn't sure I believed it, which was ridiculous. I mean it was believable and totally realistic. But something about it just didn't sit right with me. Fang would've called. Fang would've done _something_. He would've gotten ahold of someone else's phone and called me to tell me where he'd be, if it came to that. But he hadn't, and that made me worried. I already felt abandoned - how stupid is that? It hadn't even been a full twenty-four hours since I'd seen him.

He'll call you when he can, Max. Don't panic.

I admit to staying up really late, sitting by my computer and pretending to write something, which was actually just scribble that occasionally took the form of little doodles of dogs and houses and such. When Fang still hadn't IMed me by eleven, I had to admit that he wasn't going to. I left my IMing on, but shut off the screen of my computer so it wouldn't glow in the darkness. This way, if he possibly got up in the middle of the night and decided to see if I was on, I would be. How smart am I?

Okay, I admit it, I was getting desperate. A full day without your best friend can do that. Especially if you're as close to your best friend as I am.

I'll just have to wait for morning, if I can.

* * *

><p>Third Person POV<p>

The Director was in a _very_ bad mood.

The interns weren't very good at tracking Max down. They'd been looking for the dark one, the one named Fang. He was nowhere to be found. Jeb was assigned to finding Max. He still couldn't bring himself to report her address to the Director. He wanted her and Valencia and Ella to stay safe. He wanted all of them to stay safe. No one deserved to be subjected to the Director's cruel experimenting.

But if they didn't find something soon, the Director was going to send out a professional search team, and they would find them for sure. And bring them to the Director with no hesitation whatsoever.

* * *

><p><strong>Look on the bright side; it didn't take me a full week to update. So hopefully maybe that makes up for the shortness? :( I'm really sorry. I'm working on that.<strong>

**I HAVE DAAAANCE ON TUESDAY AND THAT MAKES ME HAPPYYYY. I'm doing a little happy dance right now. Like in my seat. It's a really awkward happy dance. I think the only person who's ever seen it is Aku12. And that's cause he's the only person I actually know in real life. So, shoutout. HAH.**

**And this will be ending soon. I'm giving myself a bit of a break to focus on dance and schoolwork and band (I play the flute). So if I do a sequel I will most likely have it up in January. I'll try to finish this within the month. And I'll probably do like individual thanks and such at the end cause I'm corny like that so if you want an individual thanks then PM me like right away cause I'm only gonna do so many.**

**So, yeah. Guess what. I came home from school to find a big puddle of pee in my dog's cage. Lovely.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	36. You Have Five Seconds To Explain

**Guise I'm like squealing I'm so happy for me. Not to sound like conceited. I updated two days in a row! Even though this is majorly short and is a filler, I still updated! :D  
>I get happy and perky verrrry easily lmao. I got really excited when I answered a question no one else knew in math. I was doing that awkward happy dance.<strong>

***makes serious reporter face* Breaking news: I will have two more longer chapters and then the story will be over. I'll probably put sequel info in the AN for the last chapter. IF, AND ONLY IF, people say they want a sequel. Cause if you don't want a sequel, I wanna write other things. So, please tell me? Because I already have the rest of this story planned out so if you want a sequel I gotta start brainstorming! :) So, basically, tell me if you want a sequel in your review, please.**

**ScarlettWings- OMG my thoughts exactly lol. If she had the one with the white puffy dress in that competition? She would've won. That really wasn't fair to Chloe. Maddie gets special treatment and it's really not fair. I LOVED Brooke's solo though; I felt bad about her shoulder thing :P**

**Disclaimer: I own no characters or plots or anything that belongs to James Patterson.**

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

I just had to stay home from school. I couldn't face the whole school, especially Max, knowing that I wasn't going to see them anymore.

My mom had finally revealed that we were most likely moving into the house we'd looked at. I had asked her if there was any chance that the offer wouldn't go through or be accepted, and she said no. So, I'm moving.

Mom and Dad didn't tell Nudge. They told her that I had a stomach virus and had to stay home.

Because the thing is, I'm pretty sure that I would break down inside if I saw Max again and knew I only had a few months left with her. I know what you're thinking - dudes don't break down. Dudes don't cry. Yeah, I know. We don't. But if you've met Max, and have the connection to her that I do. . .you'd be blubbering. Just saying.

It was an internal struggle as I sat there with my finger on speed dial number two - voicemail was number one by default, how annoying. Max's name was on the screen, next to a little lightning bolt and the number two. My finger dug into the send button, only for me to quickly press the end button. If I totally broke down while on the phone with her, I'd never live it down. I wasn't even sure how I was going to tell her yet.

Suddenly to door flew open, banging roughly into the wall, and I was glad I'd had the foresight to get one of those rubber things that you stick onto the wall to prevent marks and dents and such. The door banged against the wall and bounced off the rubber, sending it right back into Nudge's tear-soaked face. She threw up her palms to absorb the impact just in time, and then she shoved it open again and stormed in.

"YOU KNEW ABOUT IT AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME? I UNKNOWNINGLY LIED TO MAX TODAY AND I DON'T LIKE THAT. WHY MUST YOU LIE, FANG? YOU DIDN'T HAVE A STOMACH BUG. YOU FAKER!" She ran over to the window and shoved it open. "FANG IS A FAKERRRR," she wailed.

Wanna know the funny part?

She was serious. . .

She actually thought telling the whole neighborhood I was a faker was going to make me feel guilty.

"Woah, Nudge, calm down," I said, making sit-down motions at her.

Word of advice: don't tell a girl to calm down when she's really worked up. I should've already learned that with Max.

"_DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN_! You knew about the whole moving thing and you didn't tell me. I'm your sister. I deserve to know," she said, her words pouring out so quickly I barely caught the gist of what she was saying.

"Mom and Dad told me to keep it a secret. I didn't even get to talk to you after they told me. They just told me it was okay for me to stay home today."

"You could've _told_ me. I thought that was the agreement."

"When Mom and Dad ask me to do otherwise, the agreement isn't important. Respect parental authority, Nudge." Actually, I was just too damn lazy and depressed.

Nudge's face tightened, which looked strange, because she was always smiling and happy. "I'm not respecting parental authority. I'm leaving. Right now."

I heaved a sigh. "That won't fix anything, Nudge."

"Sure it will. You just wait." She marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

I sighed and peeked anxiously out the window. I could see the top of Max's head. She was sitting at her desk, at her computer. She wasn't looking my way. I sighed again and slowly sat on the floor. I reached under my desk and after a couple minutes of searching I found a dropped pencil I hadn't cared enough to pick up, and a scrap of paper. I started doodling mindlessly while the light coming through the window over my head got progressively dimmer.

I was surprised when I looked up and noticed the time. I wasn't hungry, so I just went straight to bed. It took me a while to quiet my mind enough to go to sleep, but I managed.

* * *

><p>Max POV<p>

Fang was at school the next day.

But he was there early, which was weird. Nudge wasn't in school.

"Oh, she caught the stomach flu that I caught from you," he explained meekly, avoiding my eyes.

"I hope she gets better," I said, examining him carefully.

He nodded and walked away quickly. Something was up. Something not good. I'd give him until lunch time to make eye contact with me. If he didn't then, this would get a little complicated.

The classes leading up to lunch passed with little to no eye contact. I sat across from him at lunch, impossible to ignore. It's easier to avoid eye contact when you're sitting next to someone. But when you're sitting across from someone, it's a natural reflex to look straight ahead at the person.

I bought my lunch and sat down, staring at Fang quietly. I turned my apple over and over and over in my hands. No eye contact. I knew he could feel my gaze, because he was staring down at the table as if he had to force himself to not look up. I drummed my fingers on the table loudly. Everyone else was talking loudly; only Fang and I were silent. I was surprised no one had taken notice. I swung my legs back and forth under the table until I felt my foot collide with his leg. He winced and his black eyes flickered up for a second. But just a fleeting second, and he looked back down again.

A fleeting second is _not_ good enough for me.

"Hey, Max, you okay?" Gazzy asked, sounding concerned. Fang finally, finally, finally met my eyes. Not for just a second, either. He held my gaze.

"I'm fine," I promised. "Never better." I never took my eyes from Fang's. His were full of some secret that he obviously wasn't telling me.

Now the whole table's attention was turned towards us. "What's up with you guys?" Carolyn asked suspicuously.

"We're having a staring contest, whataya think?" I snapped.

Everyone was silent.

Fang blinked and looked down. "You win."

I sighed in irritation. "Gotta go, guys. Bye." I shot Fang another annoyed glance, then dumped my tray and left the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

Dammit, I'm no good at this.

Max is obviously pissed that I'm not talking to her and she clearly knows that I'm keeping something from her. She just doesn't know what.

_She deserves to know, Fang._

Shut up, conscience!

_Thought you were best friends?_

. . .Damn, my conscience is actually putting up a good argument today.

I sighed. I'd have to find some way to tell Max. This would _not_ be pleasant.

* * *

><p>Max POV (I'm sorry I'm switching back and forth so much, but I wanna get both of their takes on everything. This will be the last POV change.)<p>

Wanna know something weird?

. . .I actually walked home with Fang today. It was quiet and weird and awkward, but we did walk home.

When we reached my house, I stopped and turned to stare at him, raising my eyebrows. In other words, basically telling him this was his last chance to tell me what the hell was going on or someone would find themselves without an all-black wardrobe.

He took a deep breath, looking like he was preparing himself to say something. When he finally did say something, he blurted it so quickly I didn't catch it.

"Wait, what?" I demanded.

He looked at the sidewalk.

"Fang, I didn't hear what you said," I explained irritably. I was so not in the mood.

"I'm _moving_," he said.

My blood ran cold. "Like, for sure? Or are you still waiting for the offer to go through?"

"No, it's a definite."

I was totally frozen, rooted in place. I couldn't force my numb lips to form a reply. I couldn't force my frozen limbs to move and act normally. I couldn't force my lungs to take in air in normal quantities.

And then Fang's arms were around me, crushing me to his chest. I could barely breathe, he was holding me so tightly, but I hugged him back. He was actually holding me so tight that my feet were an inch off the ground and I felt like a pathetic rag doll.

When he finally set me down, I could feel the tears in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away, hating the vulnerability that came with tears.

"Max," Fang muttered. I looked up at him and barely had time to register his reaction before he kissed me. His arms were around my waist and he kissed me fiercely - almost like he thought he'd never get to do it again. Instead of freezing up like I had the first time, my arms went around his neck. But too soon, it was over and he were just staring at each other. Fang hadn't shed a single tear, but tears were running freely down my face.

Oh my God, how long would I have to live without this before I saw him again? How long would the time be between the times I got to visit him? He'd visit me, and I'd visit him, right? We had to visit each other! I would go there the first weekend he moved in. I would paint his walls, if I had to. I would do something. I would not go without seeing Fang.

"How far?" I asked, almost inaudibly. But Fang heard me.

"Half an hour away, probably more." He looked sad. Fang actually showed emotion.

I dropped my hands from his neck but gripped his hand in a death grip. "_You will visit me every weekend. _Or I'll visit you. Understood?"

He cracked a forced smile. "Yes, best friend."

"Okay. Good."

We stood out there together for a long time, until we both finally had to go again. He kissed my forehead - twice - before crossing the road to his house.

I went back inside, robotically, and went up to my room. Living in my own body felt foreign and heavy and weird, like I had stones weighing down the new information in my brain, which already seemed to weigh a thousand pounds.

When I finally got into my room, the light was on. That was weird. I looked around and my heart almost stopped when I saw a familiar yet unfamiliar figure sitting on my bed. Familiar because I knew the figure. Unfamiliar because the figure was not supposed to be here.

"Nudge, why are you in my room?"

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so I have figured out an update schedule for myself;<br>I will probably not update anymore this week. Possibly next week. But next week is kinda when dance starts and CCD starts and band starts and my mom's birthday, so, doubtful.  
>Like I mentioned before, only two more chapters &amp; I'll be done here. Probably not doing individual thanks. MAYBE. Probs not. If I do write a sequel, it'll come in January. BUT WHETHER OR NOT I WRITE A SEQUEL IS YOUR DECISION :) So, PM, review, don't care, just please let me know! Gotta start brainstorming if you want me to!<strong>

**I touched a sheep brain today in science O.o with gloves. It creeped me out so I kinda just poked it and I was like no I can't do this and took off the glove and threw it out. Lmao.**

**Dance starts on Tueeeesday, dance starts on Tueeeeeesday :D**

**Love you guys in a non-creepy way. I love everyone. Except people who hate turtles. I'm sorry, but who doesn't like turtles? If you don't like turtles then you're simply distant in my book. If you like turtles you are part of the most awesome group of people to roam the earth.**

**Naw, just kidding. Don't take offense. But seriously, who doesn't like turtles?**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	37. Did You Say Something?

**It took me such a long time to start this.. sorry. /:**

**Well on the bright side dance started up again (:D) but my old teacher can't do Tuesdays anymore so I have a new teacher (D:). And I got into symphonic band, which is the highest band you can get into in my school. :D So yaaaaay! But I have lots of homework. Math every night. Usually 60 problems or so. So blame my math teacher for the late update. :/**

**And for people who watch Dance Moms, there's a girl in my dance class named Maddie. Except it's spelled M A D D Y.**

**I decided that I'll do individual thanks but I'll do them for people that have been reviewing each chapter & being helpful & supportive and stuff :) So it'll be a surprise who I put in & stuff. Basically, I'll thank everyone that helped me through my first story. Cause if it weren't for those people this thing wouldn't have made it past chapter one. Sounds awfully cheesy and I'm sorry for my cheesiness but yeah. Omg that reminds me. . .today I told my friend that if she tied my Converse for me (cause I was too lazy to bend down) I'd tell her a secret and I told her that I secretly love string cheese and she said 'I make it quite known that I enjoy cheese.' I was cracking up.**

**Another funny friend convo.  
>Friend: Wait so what kind of mix is your dog?<br>Me: I think it's like German Shepard, Golden Retriever, and like Chow or something.  
>Friend: OMG IT WAS A DOGGY THREESOME<strong>

**Disclaimer: Am I a middle-aged man? NO. I'm a teenage girl. So I don't own Maximum Ride.**

**You guys still don't know my name. I find that amusing. Do you find that frustrating or does it bother you or anything? Idk just wondering. Lmao :)**

* * *

><p>Nudge didn't say anything.<p>

"_Nudge_," I prodded.

She sighed and looked down at her hands. "Well, I didn't like that my parents didn't tell me we're moving right away," she said, the words pouring out quickly. "They've known since yesterday and I went to school and cluelessly lied to you - not intentionally!" she added hastily, when she saw my raised brows. "I really thought that Fang had the stomach bug. He was just staying home from school to kinda figure out how to deal with the situation and stuff and start packing. Then Fang went to school today and told everyone _I_ had the stomach bug - but I was just packing." Nudge was crying by now.

"Nudge, Nudge, it's okay," I soothed. I felt a little weird. I wasn't good at this comforting thing. I sat down on the bed next to her and rubbed her back lightly, awkwardly. "Can you still explain to me how you ended up in my room?"

She gave a small smile. "So yeah, I was really mad. And I told Fang I was gonna run away and he told me that wouldn't fix anything and I got mad and I wanted to prove him wrong. I only realized that I _really_ didn't have anywhere to go once I was out the door. I'm really sorry about kinda breaking into your house, but the back door was open and I saw Ella in the dining room. She told me to go hide in your room and just hang out. She brought me up a snack and stuff and we talked and painted our nails." She wiggled her pink nails. "And I've been here since after school," she finished awkwardly.

"Don't tell my mom," were the first words out of my lips.

"Ella didn't. I didn't. My mom is gonna start panicking and call your mom, though."

"Yeah, I know," I said. I stood up and started pacing. (**A/N: Pacing really does help you think better. I learned that in science. The brain works better when the body is in motion. And the brain is really bad at paying attention for more than eight to twelve minutes. So my science teacher lets us get up and move around all the time. Awesome, right? I'm sorry, this is long.)**

After thinking for a while, I turned back to Nudge. "Okay, so, we can't exactly hide you forever. Your mom is gonna get upset and call the police and they'll question Fang and he'll probably end up at the police station answering questions. And you know what the first thing he's gonna say is when they ask him if he knows where you might've gone?"

"Max's house," she said, realization dawning in her eyes.

"Exactly. So you can kinda stay over tonight, but I don't think it's a very good idea. You mom is gonna be worried sick."

Nudge frowned, thinking.

"I think you should go home, Nudge," I said quickly. "Not because I don't like having you here, but because I don't want your mom getting upset over this when she's already got so much to deal with."

"I guess I see your point," Nudge said reluctantly. "Will you call Fang for me? If I call him he'll yell at me."

"I guess." I'd probably cry at the sound of his voice.

"Okay." She sounded relived. "He'll be mad."

"I know. I'm harboring a criminal on the run."

She grinned and nudged me. See what I did there? Oh God, I'm doing that stupid thing again. "G'head. Call him."

I had to hit at least five speed dial buttons until I found Fang's. I'd set him as a random number, not caring for numerical order. He was number 74.

I quietly pressed the speaker button and waited. When Fang picked up, all he said was "yo."

"Yo," I said back sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "Can I talk to Nudge? She's not picking up her cell."

His voice was emotionless. "She's not really here right now. . ."

I smirked. "Do you know _where_ she is?"

"Nope."

"I do." I could hear the grin in my own voice.

"No kidding. You know where Nudge is. For real?"

"Yes, for real," I said proudly.

There was a pause.

"You gonna tell me where she is?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "I'm gonna let you talk to her. But she's scared you're gonna yell at her. So that's why I had to call you instead of her."

Nudge slapped my arm and mouthed 'shut up!' to me. I ignored her.

"I'm not going to yell at her," Fang said calmly.

"Yeah, I know that," I sighed. "The thing is, you have to talk to your mom and calm her down before I send her home so she can stop being an idiot and running away to my house." I almost clamped a hand over my mouth, realizing that I'd told him exactly where Nudge was. But I acted totally calm and collected.

"Hold on. I'm gonna come over and talk to her."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Be quick. And sneak in. Don't let my mom know you're here. If she sees you just tell her you need to borrow my science book."

"I got it. Bye." He hung up.

I frowned at the phone. "He always hangs up before I can say bye."

"ZOMG HE DOES THAT TO ME TOO!" Nudge blabbered on and on about how she'd called him after cheerleading practice one day to come walk her home and he'd hung up without letting her say bye. For some reason this issue was a big deal to her and she got a look of concentration on her face as she chattered on about Fang's annoying habit. She didn't even notice when Fang appeared in the doorway. I smirked at him and he brushed a hand over his mouth to hide his silent chuckle. He listened to Nudge's rant intently.

When she paused to take a breath, we both applauded politely. "That was a very impressive word count on one breath," Fang said.

Nudge's head whipped around so quickly that her ringlets smacked me in the face. I batted her hair away from my nose so I wouldn't be breathing in her coconut shampoo. I mean, sure, who doesn't like the smell of coconuts? But I was pretty sure I'd end up getting high.

"DON'T KILL ME" were the first words out of Nudge's mouth.

"Wasn't planning on it," Fang said, lightly kicking the door frame.

"Good," Nudge said in relief.

"I was planning on killing Max because she's the one who's encouraged this whole thing," he said calmly.

He said it so casually that I didn't really register the meaning of the words until Fang had tackled me and I found myself on the floor with my shoulders pinned and Fang leaning over me with a victorious grin.

I looked at him seriously and tried to catch my breath, since he'd slammed into me and knocked the wind out of me. "I have ways to kill you and make it look like an accident."

He smirked and tightened his hold on my shoudlers. It was getting pretty uncomfortable.

"Seriously. I wouldn't even need a lawyer."

"I'm sure you wouldn't, Maxie darling."

"You remind me of those incredibly annoying cartoon characters that are always designed to annoy the good guy," I told him.

He rolled his eyes. "That's such a stupid description."

"Oh, and something else," I continued.

He looked confused. "What?"

"You remind me of something else, too."

"What?"

"Dead meat."

I shoved him off me and pushed him onto his back. I was unforgiving and pretty dang pissed, so I had no mercy and 'accidentally' kneed him in the stomach before pinning his shoulders and kneeling on his abs. The boy seriously has some really nice muscles under there. Seriously. When I slam into him by accident, I'm pretty sure I get bruises.

"Cant," Fang gasped. "Breathe!"

I snickered and did a little ninja roll to the side. Am I cool or what? I mean, I'm sorry. That's just so epic, I just can't even. (**A/N: My friend always says 'I can't even' and never finishes the thought. Drives me nuts.**)

"Knees of steel," Fang muttered as he sat up.

Nudge was bouncing up and down on my bed. "That was weird but OMG FANG-" I grabbed the object closest to me and threw it at her. It just so happened to be a dog toy from Ella's short-lived dog adoption phase. She'd given it to one of her friend, but had decided to stuff all the dog toys under my dressers instead of giving them away.

"What the hell is this?" Nudge demanded, picking up the rawhide bone thing.

"A dog toy," I said casually, as if it was as common as having a sock lying around on the floor.

"You don't have a dog," Nudge reminded me.

"Yes I do." I patted Fang's head. "Sit."

Fang snagged my wrist and twisted my arm. I cried out and slipped away from him. "You're evil!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I thwacked him over the head and Nudge tried to stifle her giggle when Fang gave her a death glare.

"This is why you don't hang out with girls," Fang said, fingering the back of his head where I'd hit him. I'd hit him pretty hard. I was so proud of myself.

"Oh please," Nudge scoffed. "You'd be a wimp if you didn't."

"But he already is," I said.

Nudge furrowed her eyebrows. "Whuuut?"

"Fang _is_ a wimp," I said stubbornly.

"Oh. Well that's true." Nudge grinned.

Fang's cell phone started talking to us. Specifically, his mom's voice that was his personalized ringtone for his mom that she'd recorded.

_Fang you had better pick up your phone this very instant or you are in some huge trouble. I mean it. Fang. . .FANG ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE. I KNOW YOU'RE THERE._

Nudge and I snickered as Fang flipped open the phone. He barely got to say a word before his mom's shrill scream shattered through the tiny speakers on the phone.

"**_WHERE'S NUDGE?_**" Yes, I totally did bold/caps lock/underline/italicize that. Her scream was that loud.

"She's right here, mom," he said calmly.

"LET ME TALK TO HER," she said, still loudly, but not quite as loud as before.

"Okay, gimme a second." Fang unsuccessfully tried to calm his mother down before she spoke to Nudge. I stood up and looked down at Fang with an angelic smile.

"May I please speak to your mother, Nicolas?" I asked in a disgustingly sweet, sugarcoated voice.

"Of course, Maximum," Fang said, doing a weak impersonation of my angelic sweet-talk voice. I snatched the phone and stood on my desk chair to talk to her.

"Hi, Mrs. Thorne," I said. My voice was still in super-sweet mode. I swear, I should be an actress.

"Hi, Max, can I _please_ talk to Nudge," she begged. Normally she would've replied just as sweetly as I had, but now she was stressed and really needed to talk to her daughter.

"Okay, but before I give her the phone, I have to say that I'll miss you so much when you move and I'll come over to lend you a hand whenever you need me." I smiled evilly at Fang; an oppurtunity to organize him and help his mom crack the whip was too good to pass up.

Fang's mom's voice was calmer when she spoke again. "That would be great, Max," she said, calm and cheerful again. "I'll miss you so much as well."

I smiled. "I'll let you talk to Nudge now," I said in a voice so awfully sweet I think I gave myself a cavity. I handed the phone to Nudge and skipped out the door, swinging my arms like I was a perfect ballerina exiting the stage. (**A/N: Or Maddie, for Dance Moms people ;D OMG I NEED TO STOP WITH THESE NOTES**) Fang was close on my heels.

"No," I objected, shoving against his chest. "You need to go support your sister."

"She can support herself perfectly fine," Fang said. "She needs private time to talk to my mom."

"Stubborn," I muttered.

"More stubborn," he shot back.

"Even more stubborn." I was stubbornly going to win this.

"Most stubborn person on the planet," he said truimphantly.

Damn, can't argue with that. So I settled for narrowed eyes and a seriously out of character snooty hair toss. I crack myself up.

He laughed and leaned against the wall. "So. . . ." he said, drawing the word out awkwardly.

I crossed my arms. "So."

He chuckled. "Wanna make out?" he teased.

"Oh my God, shut up!" I forced a laugh and smacked him across the chest even though the awkward energy in the hall had just skyrocketed. Thankfully, Nudge opened the door to my room and peeked her head out.

"Max?" she said. "I hafta go home now. You do too." She pointed at Fang.

Fang shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Let's go. See ya." He peered down the stairs to make sure my mom wasn't lurking down there and then tip toed down the stairs with more silence than I would've thought he was capable of. Well, actually, more silence than I thought a guy could be capable of. Fang had always been way too silent. Nudge was more noisy; the strap of her backpack got caught around the door handle on the way out and almost tipped my mom off to her presence.

I sighed and flopped down on my stomach on the floor. My life was like a snowball going down a hill, gathering speed and sticky snow and problems with every roll until it was just one big ball of stress and anger and confusion and did I mention stress?

It sucks.

* * *

><p>"Is your room <em>always<em> this messy?" I asked in horror.

Fang shrugged and sat down in his desk chair. "No."

"I don't believe you." I tiptoed around the mess until I found a clear place to stand. It was Saturday, and Fang's mom had invited me over to help them pack up. I'd accepted so quickly that she'd barely gotten the time to invite me before I answered. I hated having a big gaping empty Saturday ahead of me. Usually Fang and I did something, like go bike riding or something like that. But there was a lot of cleaning up and packing to do. I tried not to dwell on the reason for that, instead thinking about how messy Fang had allowed his room to become.

"Well, first," I said, puffing out a black trash bag, "we get rid of some of this crap."

"Go ahead," Fang said, folding his hands behind his head. "I love watching a girl do a guy's work."

"Yeah, well, that's what happens when there are no real guys around." (**A/N: Can't take credit; got that joke from The Clique.**)

He threw something at my head and I ducked just in time. "Gimme that trash bag."

I pulled it out of his reach. "No. You'll decide what's for keeps and what's crap, and toss it in while I hold it open." I stretched my arms as far as they would go to hold open the trash bag.

Fang started sorting through the mess on the floor. "Here," he said, dumping a bunch of makeup in the bag. I stared at it in horror.

"Fang!" I screeched. "You wear _Maybelline_?"

"It's Nudge's," he explained calmly. "There's a mirror inside my closet door that my mom never took down and she uses it to apply her makeup everyday, then forgets about the makeup and leaves it in here."

My mouth was still dropped open and my eyes were still wide.

"You'll start catching flies soon," Fang said casually, tossing in a couple ripped socks.

I snapped my mouth shut and glared. "I'm just surprised that you wear makeup."

"Seriously, are you not hearing a word I'm saying?"

"You're a good liar," I teased.

"Shut up, Ride," he said.

"I've always found it cliche when people call me by my last name, Thorne," I shot back.

He threw something else at me. I ducked again. "I'm not a target!" I cried.

He rolled his eyes and stuffed a bunch of note sheets in the bag. "You are for me."

"Thank you," I said sourly. "And you're still my dog, right?"

Now it was his turn to scowl. I grinned and tossed the bag at him. "Jeez, kidding."

"I wasn't."

"I take back my last statement, then."

"Here's a box," Mrs. Thorne said briskly, setting down a big cardboard box. "You guys should start packing little things up. Like all of this crap." She grinned and patted Fang's dresser top. He certainly did have a lot of useless crap crowding it.

"Can you throw this out?" Fang said, shoving the bag towards his mom.

"Throw it out yourself, mister," I chided. "Your mom doesn't need to be bothered with this."

He stuck his tongue out at me. I marveled again at how much he's opened up since we became friends. It's a nice change.

"C'mon," I said, moving behing him and shoving him. "Go put it at the curb."

"Fine," he muttered, and got up to go put the bag at the curb.

Mrs. Thorne gave me an approving look. "You're a blessing, Max."

I laughed. "Thanks, Mrs. Thorne."

"Sweetheart, please just call me Kate." She smiled.

I smiled too. "Sure. I'm just gonna start packing this stuff up," I said awkwardly, moving in front of Fang's dresser.

She disappeared down the hall, a bunch of flattened cardboard boxes in her arms.

Sorting Fang's stuff occupied me until I heard a tiny _ding_ from his laptop that immediately captured my interest. Ninja-like, I silently moved across the room and pressed my finger to the touch pad. The black faded away to show his Gmail account. There was a brand-new one on top. The name in the name part thingy was Brigid Dwyer.

Can't a girl catch a damn _break_?

First dealing with a jealous Lissa. Then Dylan. Then Brigid. Then Halley. Now Brigid _again_.

I swear, someone, somewhere, is out to get me.

I checked behind me to make sure Fang wasn't in the doorway. I peeked out the window and saw that he was having trouble with the garbage cans; he'd knocked one over, which caused the whole row to fall over, and several to roll into the street. He was sprinting back and forth, struggling to keep all the garbage cans on the curb. It was a really funny sight, and it bought me some time.

The subject line read 'Hey Fang!' with a cutesy little smiley face.

How _adorable_.

I clicked it open and quickly read through it.

_Hey Fang! :D I haven't talked to you in a while but I was wondering if you'd be interesting in going rollerblading next Friday. I only have two tickets so please don't bring anyone else. Text me whether you can or can't come. See you at school :D_

_-Brigid_

I could've sworn that the 'don't bring anyone else' part was directed at me.

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and knew I had to act fast. I quickly clicked the 'mark as unread' button and minimized the window. I rushed over to Fang's dresser and resumed sorting through the stuff as if I'd been here the whole time.

"I don't even know how to start organizing this," I said. I realized I sounded kinda bitter and tried to tone it down a bit. "Oh, and you laptop it making noises." I pointed at it acusingly.

"I'll check it later," he said dismissively. "We need to sort this right now."

"Agreed." I reached into the mess and came up with a trophy. I turned it over and read the plaque. "You played hockey?" I asked in surprise.

"In middle school, yeah." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

"You have like, six trophies! Why'd you quit?"

"It wasn't for me. I got bored of it."

I smacked his head. "Bad Fang. I never quit stuff."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Yes you do. You do it all the time."

"Shhhh," I warned, packing up the trophies.

We went on and on like that for hours, us arguing and stuffing everything in either a trash bag or boxes. By the time we decided to finish it another day, the sky was darkening. We'd gotten at least a quarter or Fang's room cleaned and packed up.

Afterwards we sat out on Fang's front lawn with popsicles even though it was fall and only days from Halloween.

"When's the exact date?" I asked awkwardly.

"Of what?" Fang sounded confused.

"You know," I said, subtly widening my eyes, "when you _move_." I practically whispered the last part.

"Oh." He looked up at the stars. "The day after Thanksgiving."

"Where are you having Thanksgiving?" I asked, hoping to divert the topic from Fang moving.

He shrugged. "The McDonalds drive-thru, maybe?"

I frowned. "That's stupid. Come have Thanksgiving with us. It's not like my mom cares."

He tilted his head. I found myself getting disoriented by how black and bottomless his eyes were. They were like, the sky, or something. . .

I shook my head to clear it. I realized that Fang had been asking me a question while I was lost in my own little world. "Huh?"

"I said, she really wouldn't mind that?"

I snorted sarcastically. "No way."

"Hmm." His face was happier now. "I'll try and convince my mom."

"You do that." I bit off the last of my orange popsicle and read the joke. "Ew. These jokes are horrible." I got up and tossed it in the garbage can at the curb. I only realized that Fang had been following me, just inches behind. I almost smashed into him before his strong hands caught me and I was looking into those eyes again.

Dammit, I'm such a sap!

"Sweet dreams," Fang said, looking amused.

"Mhm," I said, incredibly incoherent.

Why must Fang tease me? Why must he kiss my forehead and look all mysterious and crap and look like he's gonna say something else but never says it? It's so annoying.

He released me. " 'Night."

I turned away, trying not to let my annoyance and confusion and incoherency show. " 'Night."

I thought I head Fang say something else to me, but I was too far away to hear.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm sappy.<strong>

**Hey, go look this up. Go on YouTube. In the search bar, type in Maddie Ziegler - Disappear. I swear, I'm watching this every single second of the day. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. I can't stop watching it lol.**

**Once again, so sorry for the sososo late update. My excuse this time is homework. And dance. And band. And my sick dog. Who's throwing up all over the place :(**

**Oh, and one more thing: I told you last chapter I'm gonna do two more chapters and then end it. I've decided to extend it to three more after this so it'll end with exactly forty chapters. I always have to have stuff evened out like that lmao.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	38. Nothing

**Guys I'm really sorry for being so late. :( Seriously, I feel like a terrible person. I just had such bad writer's block. . .I must've rewritten this like six times. And I'm kind of having some personal issues with friends right now. . .as in; Me being best friends with my other best friend's crush + no chocolate readily available + her mood swings =HELL.  
>So yeah, if anyone ever feels like listening to other people's problems, you know who to PM.<strong>

**And one more thing. Am I like the only person in the world that doesn't want Avan Jogia to play Fang. Like seriously. Tell me now. Cause everyone I talk to wants him to be Fang but I'm just sitting here on the sidelines like N O. asdfghjkl**

**Guise I have more horrrrrible jokes for you :)**

**Friend shouting in the hallway: CONSERVE ENERGY! How would you feel if someone turned you on and left you there alone?  
>Lol if you don't get it, don't think too hard about it.<br>Oh, and this one.  
>My social studies teacher: I don't think I like your laditude, missy.<br>Lol get it? Cause she's a social studies teacher and.. oh my flabbernuggets, I'm stupid.**

**So anyway this chapter has come to you from my friggin evil cold. I've had it all week and I got bored. So that + no good TV on during the day + not feeling like watching A Walk to Remember for the third time + boredom + already finished stupid homework + not being able to go to Hershey Park = THUS THE CHAPTER WAS BORN**

**And to MydniteShadow1996, who totally made my day by telling me that my ANs make her day. :)**

**Disclaimer: I own... well nothing. Yep, I own nothing. The rest goes to James Patterson.**

**Oh, would you look at that. I'm bleeding.**

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

_Slam!_ I'm stupid.

_Whack! _Why'd I ever believe I had a chance?

_Pop!_ There goes my only basketball.

I sighed and got up, grabbing the pathetic-looking, deflated basketball. I had been bouncing it into the wall of the maitnence building in a park that was usually empty. I didn't play basketball now, but my dad had played with me as a kid and it was sort of a. . .keepsake? I didn't particularly want it anymore, but I didn't feel strongly enough about it to throw it away. Plus, it was in perfectly good condition, so why bother? It was good for situations like this. Like when I blurted out stuff I shouldn't and I was mad at myself because it was obviously the wrong decision.

When you tell someone you love them, you expect to have some kind of reaction from them, right? Even if it's a screaming denial as they run for the hills. Just _something_. What was that quote that Carolyn had written on her binder. It was something like, 'Words can hurt your feelings, but silence breaks your heart.' There's nothing I hate more than a stupid quote proving itself.

Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, when Max was walking over to her house, I had this urge to confess all my feelings right then and there, like I was in some horrible daytime soap opera. So I told Max I love her, which at this point, is true. And you know what happened? She just kept walking. She didn't say anything. She didn't turn around. It was like she hadn't heard me. Which, I reluctantly admit, might've been the case. But my more pessimistic side immediately jumped to conclusions.

I sat on the curb, playing around with the deflated ball in my hands. Thoughts raced through my head at a mile a minute. When I saw her again on Monday, or maybe tomorrow, we'd probably just carry on like normal, like we always did, whenever anything awkward happened. But just for once, I wish that I could just go and be upfront about it instead of being the totally silent like I _always_ was.

I felt a random itch on my leg, and it took me a couple seconds to realize that 1) The itch was small and rectangular 2) It was vibrating 3) It was my phone, vibrating in my pocket and tickling my leg.

I shook my head at my own stupidity and answered the phone. "Yo," I said.

"Fang? Like can you come home like. . .um right now? I really need to get to Cheer Haven because I'm supposed to meet there with the team in five minutes and mom won't let me walk there alone because Cheer Haven isn't really in the safest neighborhood, y'know? So Mom says that you need to walk me there to make sure I don't get mugged." That was all on one breath, in case you were wondering.

"Why can't Max just take you?" I muttered, too distracted to form a perfect excuse.

"Oh, she's coming with me already to talk to the coach. So you need to take us. Max's mom agrees, but Max won't stop protesting." She paused, and I heard Max's voice in the background. I tried to keep my voice normal.

"I'm not really very close to home right now. . ." Kind of a lie. It was a ten-minute walk.

Nudge's voice got all impatient and whiny. "Well then hurry! We're not gonna wait for very long and we kinda have to be there soon. So hurry up and if you don't I will forever blame you for everything that goes wrong in my life. So bye."

I bet she was really proud of herself for hanging up on me before I could say bye.

* * *

><p>Let me tell you, that walk was not fun.<p>

Apparently Max's mom had flipped out on her for not sticking through and going to the cheerleading tryouts. She insisted that Max go with Ella to her team's meeting and get things straightened out with the coach. And Max was spitting mad.

"I mean, it's so annoying how she thinks it's okay to _force_ me to do something I don't want to do," Max seethed. "I don't wanna stand next to everyone else waving stupid pom poms and having all the guys 'accidentally' show up and hope to catch a glimpse of some whore's undies. And when you're a cheerleader you get stereotyped as automatically being a slut."

"I take offense," Ella said, sounding hurt.

"You're so not helping this situation," I whispered.

Ella shrugged.

"I wanna punch something," Max stated.

I grimaced. Unfortunately, this would be my job, as the best friend. I squeezed ahead of Nudge and Ella and stood next to Max. "Go ahead," I said, wincing in preparation.

Max hesitated before shaking her head. "I'd feel bad."

I heard Ella gasp behind us. "You always punch be and don't feel bad about it!"

A smirk played across Max's lips and I had the urge to kiss her, but held back. "Yeah, but there's a difference," she explained. "Fang's my best friend. You're my annoying sister. Guess who I'd feel worse about hurting?"

I grinned over my shoulder at Ella. "Sorry, Ells," I said.

Ella grumbled something under her breath and Nudge slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her laugh. Max and I rolled our eyes at the same time and turned back around.

For me, the rest of the walk was spent shooting threatening glares at the gangs that were hanging out in alleys. I saw too many gazes pause on the three girls, Max especially, which bothered me more than words can say. I actually had to flip one off that stepped to close, and Max started laughing hysterically. The laugh sounded kinda out of place in the grimy setting. Like, Tinkerbell in prison.

The stupid 'Cheer Haven' store was the only bright and shiny store on the whole street. Well, scratch that, in the whole area. The logo was huge and bright pink and green and yellow and blue and hurt my eyes.

"God, can that thing be any brighter?" I mumbled, squinting away from the sign.

Max shook her head in disgust. "Let's get this over with." She yanked the door open and it chimed merrily. "Fang? You coming?" She asked, turning around to face me.

It was my turn to shake my head. "It would totally ruin my manliness."

She rolled her eyes and disappeared into the store with Nudge and Ella yanking on her arms.

I leaned against the brick ledge running across the plate-glass window. I noticed someone staring at me across the street. The face looked kinda familiar. I wonder where I'd seen her before. . .

A cold prick of dread stabbed my stomach as I recognized the girl at the same time she recognized me. "Fang!" Halley screeched.

_Oh God no please let this not be happening. . ._

Halley scuttled across the street in her high heels, almost tripping over the cracks. She was giggling like a ditz as she teetered over. "Heeeey," she said, twirling her hair around her finger.

I only nodded.

"So, what exactly brings you to Cheer Haven?" Halley asked slowly.

"My sister. And my girlfriend and her sister. Their team is meeting in there. I had to walk them here." I watched Halley's expression harden as I mentioned my supposed girlfriend again.

"Oh. Cool. I'm a cheerleader too," she said with a megawatt smile.

"Cool," I said in a monotone.

"I'm here for a new bow 'cause my old ones are totally destroyed. My Chihuahua chewed them up." She patted the tiny dog head sticking out of her purse that was so huge it bordered on being luggage. "Her name is Sugar."

The dog stared at me with its stupid bug eyes. It kinda looked like a rat. (**A/N: No offense to people who like or own Chihuahuas; I've learned that most guys I talk to think that Chihuahuas look like rats.**)

"Say hi to Fang," Halley giggled stupidly, raising the dog to me. She sneezed on me.

"Gross," I commented, wiping the dog snot off my shirt with a crumpled napkin that I hadn't realized was in my jacket pocket.

Halley was turning crimson. "I'm soooo sorry," she said, humiliated. "Bad dog!" she cried at the rat, and stuffed it back in her luggage. "So, um, wanna come inside with me? You can look for your sister and _girlfriend_ while you're in there." Her voice was slightly sarcastic when she said 'girlfriend', almost like she was trying to call my bluff.

"Uh, no thanks," I muttered. "I'll just wait here."

"Oh, come on!" she giggled, grabbing my arm and towing me into the store. The instant I was inside, I wanted to cover my eyes. The mishmosh of colors that coated the racks was giving me a screaming headache. There were bows and pleated skirts and all that stupid stuff. The girl at the cash register was wayyyyy too heavily made up, and wearing something that resembled something that an NFL cheerleader would wear. Translation=practically nothing.

Worst of all, there was music playing way too loudly over the speakers. It was the kind of music I called 'bubblegum pop'; way too cheery and upbeat and _eew_. Some whiny chick's voice was singing and I totally wasn't listening.

"Well, c'mon," Halley said, still yanking me, which, let me tell you, I did not appreciate. "Let's go look for them."

"That's okay," I said calmly. "They're in a meeting with their coach. I'll wait here. You can go get your bow, if you want."

Dissatisfied with my response, she huffed off. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the window. My eyes flickered to the cashier with disinterest; she was flipping her hair all over the place, obviously trying to catch my attention. She looked kind of like a mental patient. Willow Smith should've been sitting there going, "WHIP YO HAIR!" I turned and brushed a hand across my mouth to try to hide my smile. That was so accurate.

A new song came over the speakers, a slower, softer song. My face dropped with dread when I recognized the song from my mom's CDs. She liked to play them at full blast in the car while I complained loudly that my ears were bleeding. The lyrics sounded so familiar. . .

And unfortunately, completely described my life at the moment.

_Dialed her number and confessed to her  
>I'm still in love but all I heard<br>Was nothing  
>She said nothing<br>I wanted words but all I heard was nothing_

Life is out to get me. I swear it. My life freaking _despises_ me.

I tried to distract myself from the song's lyrics by tapping my feet and counting how many times I could tap them in a minute. When I realized that I'd been counting for way too long, it dawned on me that I couldn't actually time myself. Everytime the chorus came around, the words _all I heard was nothing_ hit me like one of Nudge's ear-piercing screams, or Max's fist when she's angry.

Finally, the tall coach emerged from the back of the store with the whole freaking cheerleading team in tow. I had no idea where Halley had disappeared to. Max stood out from the cheerleaders, standing off to the side slightly, with her arms tightly folded and a snarl on her face. The other girls had those gigundo bows wrapped around their ponytails and were flipping their hair stupidly as they smiled at me.

"Heeeeeey, Fang," called an unknown voice.

I nodded vaguely as Max swiftly approached me. "Let's go," she muttered.

" 'Kay," I muttered back. I walked a step behind her as we both left the store quickly, with at least ten pairs of eyes on our backs.

We had almost passed the store when there was a sharp knock on the window. The coach was glaring out at Max. She yelled something through the glass and Max rolled her eyes and kept walking. I sped up my pace to match hers.

"So, what's the deal?"

Max sighed. "My mom is forcing me to be on the team. She's upset that I'm not as engaged in sports as I used to be in my old school. So she's insisting that I go through with this. I have to at least go through with the fall cheerleading season, but spring is optional," she said in one big rush.

I couldn't help it; I snickered under my breath.

Max elbowed me sharply in the ribs. "Not funny!"

"No, of course not," I said, trying unsuccessfully to keep the smirk off my face.

"You're impossible!" Max had to turn away to hide her smile.

I shrugged. "Whatever you say. Hey, how are Ella and Nudge getting back home?"

She shrugged too. "The coach is taking them out to lunch to talk about practices and stuff. I managed to get out of it. Someone's picking them up later."

I shook my head, my hair flopping into my eyes. It was getting too long; I had to cut it soon. "I love your lack of concern."

"You know it," she replied with a grin.

I was busy chuckling, so I kind of missed this next part.

Max, by far the most coordinated, ninja-like person I know, tripped.

Wanna know the best part?

Off the _curb_.

Into a freaking four-way intersection.

What fun.

* * *

><p><strong>Heh... heh... heh... wtf made me end like that? I told you I have writer's block. . . but oh well it's a good excuse for Fang heroics.<strong>

**OHHHH. ALMOST FORGOT.  
>Disclaimer: I don't own the song; The Script does.<br>Btw I spontaneously added that in.. it's been stuck in my head forever.**

**That awkward moment when you sense someone looking at you from across the table and you slowly turn your head and the person staring at you raises his arms and starts singing the opening song of the Lion King. Most awkward moment of my life.**

*****DANCE MOMS PEOPLE:***  
>Omgg the season finale is in like half an hour :D I'm soo excited. If Maddie gets to be the star of everything I'm gonna flip out. I wish Brooke could be on top more. It's always Chloe or Maddie.<strong>

**And once again like I can't apologize enough for being like three weeks late... I'm so disappointed in myself :( I'm really sorry... stuff's getting crazy with three hours of dance and 5:30 flute rehearsals twice a week and homework and CCD and 20 hours of community service.. so yeah I'm sorry like a million times over. And over. Then square that. Then cube it. Then take that to the hundreth power. Then add two.**

**Oh and for the sequel? I might start looking for a beta reader. So, please note that I'm looking and if you're a beta reader LEMME KNOW.  
>Lol and I'm a beta reader now too.<strong>

**SORRY AGAIN.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	39. What The Hell's Wrong With You?

**That awkward moment when you walk out of math and suddenly five voices are like, singing your name all at once and you're so irritated you just automatically snap "WHAT?" cause you've been up and working and at school since six in the morning and everyone gets all silent and awkward.  
>More awkward: they were all guys. Ahem, but wtf.<strong>

**So yeah this is really late & I'm sorry.. but everytime I tried to write it I ended up getting bored and reading some really good stories or going downstairs to practice my turns in the kitchen.. my kitchen floor is actually really good for practicing turns :D  
>Oh, and I got shoved into the barre in dance. The thing hit me in the gut, and if that's never happened to you, don't try it. I thought I broke my ribs.<strong>

**Oh and you know that I took so long to update that the document manager started automatically deleting my old chapters. I got panicked cause they were disappearing and I was like ooooh shiat I'm hacked. But I wasn't...**

**I got them mooooOOOooooOOooo0OooOves like Jagger.**

**That song has been stuck in my head all day, along with Someone Like You by Adele and it's really weird cause one's like an upbeat dance song, and the other is like, so soft and slow. It's like the contrast between hip hop and lyrical.**

**Okay like I'm really annoyed because I'm like freezing cold right now and I'm like bundled up in my North Face and sweats and stuff and then like two seconds later it's hot again. Like wtf. -_-**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Maximum Ride, I'd own Max and Fang.. and I'd push Max off a cliff and keep Fang to myself. Naw just kidding. Well, not about the keep Fang to myself part, but y'know.**

* * *

><p>Fang POV<p>

_Lovely._

If you happened to miss the last thirty seconds of my life, I'd say _lucky you_. 'Cause then you'd miss the fact that the girl I'm probably in love with tripped into a four-way intersection.

Two thoughts were running through my head. One: Max you freaking IDIOT and Two: Oh my God she'll be a pancake in two seconds flat if I don't grab her.

It was one of those times where you really wish you were Superman, y'know? Just casually stroll into the street, stopping cars with your hands as you go. Yeah, I wish life was that simple.

Instead I launched myself after her, actually slamming down on the hood of a car like Spiderman and leaping off almost immediately. Before Max could hit the ground and have her face exfoliated by the pavement, I snared an arm around her waist, hauling her closer. Most cars had stopped, and the squeal of rubber against the street hurt my ears. So now Max and I stood in the middle of the intersection surrounded by honks and angry people shouting out windows and waving fists. I saw a tiny curl of smoke drift into the sky, coming from somewhere in the distance. Then an earsplitting scream echoed through the streets.

"YOU CRASHED INTO ME YOU BIG-" Censored, censored, censored. I instinctively pressed one hand against Max's ear and pressed her uncovered ear to my shoulder. She grinned and slowly repeated the stream of profanity in a whisper. If she hadn't just almost died I might've shoved a bar of soap in her mouth. Those words just sounded so weird in Max's mouth. Like I said before, Tinker Bell in prison.

"WHY ARE YOU BLAMING ME YOU BIG HOG? WHY DON'T YOU BLAME THOSE DAMNED KIDS FOR NOT WATCHING WHERE THEY'RE GOING?" At least, that's the clean version.

"Uh oh," Max whispered.

"Run," I muttered, and we both took off at a flat-out sprint down the sidewalk. I knew it was a bad idea as soon as I saw how wobbly Max was. She was probably a little shaky; she'd just tripped in front of ten cars all at once.

Not giving myself time to think, I barely paused as I reached out and swept one arm under her knees. She gasped sharply, but my other arm caught her before her head could crack down on the pavement. I had barely hesitated for a second, and I continued running.

* * *

><p>Max POV<p>

I tried not to be sick as I bobbed up and down in Fang's arms. Did I have a million reasons for him to put me down? Of course. But he probably had a million and two why not.

I clutched the collar of Fang's jacket in a death grip, my nails digging into the leather. I was getting motion sick, and was convinced that I was gonna be dropped in about two point five seconds.

"Alley!" I screamed in Fang's ear.

"What?" he puffed.

"There's an alley coming up; don't be an idiot. Turn."

Immediately picking up on what I was talking about, Fang swerved into the dank alley. He paused and let me down, bracing his hands on his knees and taking deep breaths. I glanced out of the opening of the narrow space between the buildings and saw several cars race past, well over the speed limit. Some fists were shaking out the windows and I heard some shouted threats. Violent threats.

I turned back to Fang, concerned with how hard he was breathing. He had just ran for his life (and mine!) with at least a hundred plus pounds for at least three blocks. Did he need an inhaler or something? Oh God, I didn't have an inhaler! I frantically patted my pockets for my phone, but came up empty. Dammit!

"Fang?" I touched his shoulder. My voice was uncharacteristically quiet. "You okay?"

"Fine," he barely got out the word before he continued huffing and puffing.

"Do you have like an inhaler or anything? I think there's a doctor's office like a few blocks from here. . .I could get a shopping cart and wheel you there." I was totally serious, but he started cracking up, and almost immediately winced.

"Don't do that," he said.

"Do what?"

"Make me laugh."

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry!" I bit my lip. Great. For all I knew, I had just totally killed my best friend. Pouting, I slid down the alley wall, ignoring the rough bricks. I tugged on Fang's hand and he slid down and sat next to me. He looked miserable. Of course, an outsider wouldn't be able to tell; he looked totally normal. But I could see the look in his eyes; that run had taken more out of him than he was showing.

I felt my lip quivering. This was all my stupid fault. Why was I so damn uncoordinated? I just had to go tripping in front of cars. I mean sure, gymnastics, no problem. I can do an aerial and a press handstand without wobbling, but walking on the curb is a completely different story.

"Are you okay?" I asked, getting up and craning my head to see his facial expression.

"I'm fine, Max. Stop worrying about me. Worry about yourself." His teeth were gritted, and his neck was covered in sweat.

"Ahem, lying to someone who knows you're lying doesn't work," I said, staring straight into his midnight colored eyes.

"Bite me," he muttered halfheartedly.

"Not even if you begged. C'mon, we're going home." Without waiting for an answer, I gripped his hands and used all my strength to haul him to his feet. He was heavier than me, but it wasn't like I was a wuss. He was wobbling a little. "God, you're more winded than I thought."

"I just need a sec to catch my breath. You don't need to go all crazy on me."

"Well, I'm the best friend. I think it's kind of my job to go all crazy making sure you're okay."

He was about to reply, but we both heard voices coming from deeper in the alley and froze. Fang pivoted to face the faceless threat, shoving me behind him. Sure, the heroics were totally adorable, but it wasn't like I couldn't fend for myself. I rolled my eyes and stood next to him, instead of behind. He tried to push me back again, but I grabbed his wrist. I was not playing weak-little-Bella-that-hides-behind-Edward-'cause-she's-freaking-helpless. No way.

We heard glass shattering and winced. A rough-looking guy materialized from around the corner. He had a tattoo of a snake wrapped around his neck, the snake's head painted onto his jaw, staring with piercing red eyes. Smoke curled out of his mouth as he breathed out, tapping the cigarette in between his fingers. Even under his old jacket I could see his muscles - bigger than Fang's, even (Yeah, I know). He was so big and mean-looking that I don't think that Fang and I combined would be able to take him.

"Whatchu doin' here?" he snarled. My eyes were wide as terror as his narrow eyes met mine. I wasn't sure, but I think that his eyes widened. "Nice chick you got, man."

Fang looked like. . .I don't even know how to describe it, like a god or something. "Don't talk about her like that," he hissed.

The guy grinned, a feral smile, and tossed his cigarette to the ground, grinding it out with a tattered work boot. "Well, you need a lesson taught to ya if you think you can be talkin' to me like that." He moved forward. Fang tensed, ready to throw a punch.

I dug my nails into his arm. "Don't," I breathed in his ear. "Not. Over. Me."

He shook off my hand. "Shh" was all he said.

"Nick," I hissed, knowing that it annoyed him to be called by his real name.

"Where'd you go, man?" a voice bellowed from around the bend in the alley.

"Not now, Dylan," the snake tattoo guy growled.

Hold on a second.

_Dylan?_

* * *

><p><strong>I was gonna stop here cause I was too damn tired to write.. but I figured if I was gonna be late than I should make it longer. So let us continue.<strong>

* * *

><p>My stomach clenched so hard I thought I was gonna be sick as Dylan casually strolled around the bend, in all his movie star handsomeness. Now that I realized it though, he was more like a sinister thug, while Fang was movie star handsome.<p>

I could feel my face twisting, revealing my shock as I took an automatic step back.

"What's going on?" Dylan's face changed as his eyes landed on me. "Max," he said in an almost pained voice, like he didn't want me to find out that he was basically hanging out with pedophiles, even though he knew I'd find out anyway. "Max, I can-"

"You _douche_," I snapped. "When were you gonna let it slip about the 'interesting' company you keep?" I tilted my head, daring him to challenge me.

"It's not like I _lied_ about it," he said back in an equally cold voice.

Fang took a protective step forward.

"And you brought your body guard too," Dylan said coolly.

That really pissed me off.

"Go to hell, Dylan," I said chillingly. I grabbed Fang's arm and towed him to the end of the alley. Fang stopped when we reached the end, glancing back at Dylan. Grinning suddenly and unexpectedly, he yanked me towards him and crushed his lips against mine. I was so shocked that I could barely react before he let go, only keeping hold of my hand. He smirked at Dylan, and we both walked away.

I smacked his chest. "What the hell was that?"

He grinned, gleeful, and the smile made him look _that much_ hotter. . .oh my God, I'm talking like Ella or Nudge would. I shook my head to dispell the thoughts.

"Just letting Dylan know how things are," he said evenly.

"And being an idiot," I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that."

"Good."

He heard the pissed-off-ed-ness (**A/N: I just made that up.**) in my voice and stopped. I didn't stop and stormed ahead. I would've gotten away with it, except he was too fast, and knew how I was gonna react before I knew it myself. He snagged my wrist before I could get too far ahead. But I saw that coming, and twisted away from him. And he saw _that_ coming. . .and I'm pretty sure it looked like a slap fight to anyone on the outside.

"Ow, you scratched me." I rubbed my finger over the nonexistant scratch and stared straight into Fang's eyes.

"That's just a ploy to get me to say sorry. But fine. Sorry."

"Come again?"

Fang sighed and I felt the world spinning around me again as he knocked my legs out from under me and narrowly caught my shoulders before I hit my head.

"You're an idiot," I snipped, barely putting up a fight as he strolled casually down the street. I then proceeded to call him every name in the book, smiling joyfully as I did. Occasionally Fang would nod and mutter 'good one,' and was clearly committing what I said to memory.

"So, when can I walk on my own?"

"Never." He grinned wickedly and butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

"Why not?" I demanded belligerently.

"Wouldn't want you tiring yourself out for _cheerleading_," he teased.

I stiffened and the look on my face immediately turned murderous. Fang didn't even flinch. I hooked one arm around his neck, squeezing a bit too tight.

"Whoops," I muttered when he coughed.

"Fair enough," he mumbled.

"You could always push me off a roof and break my arm so I have an excuse not to," I said hopefully.

"Not a chance, _Maxie_," he said, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the pet name. I frowned. "I'm so looking forward to coming to your games and making fun of you when you fall."

I squeezed him lightly around the neck again. "Correction: You'll fly off the bleachers and onto the field if I fall and rush me to a hospital."

"Guilty," he said with a grin.

"Oh, and you shouldn't feel the need to hang around during practices," I said, trying not to sound too reassuring and failing miserably.

"You kidding? What if you fall during practice and I miss it?"

"Whatever. Hang around for two hours. See if I care."

I saw the slight flicker in his expression when he heard the two hour part. Sure, that was stretching the truth a bit, but I'd do _anything_ to not have him come. Reason being, once girls figured out that Fang was my best friend, suddenly I was either the subject of lots of death glares, or the subject of unexpected invitations to the mall, with special instructions to bring Fang. It was beyond annoying.

I pounded my fist on Fang's shoulder. "Let me walk now," I insisted.

"Nope."

I widened my eyes and stared at him. My bottom lip started quivering, and I called on my handy ability to make myself cry whenever I wanted to. I felt a film of tears cover my eyes as I gazed at Fang with the ultimate Bambi Eyes.

As soon as he realized what I was doing, he looked straight ahead and refused to make eye contact. But he knew me better than that.

"Fang?" I whimpered.

"What," he said stiffly.

"Let me down?"

"No."

"Please?"

He stole a quick glance at me. Wrong move. My eyes were glistening with moisture, my lip was pouted out and quivering, and I could feel my cold cheeks getting rosy from the cold. My mom had always told me I could convince a crowd of five thousand to collectively commit murder with that face.

Fang swore under his breath.

"Pleeease," I whispered. I knew I was being unfair; I was using the Bambi Eyes and the Little Girl Voice all in one.

"You're a demon," Fang declared, setting me down.

I dropped the Bambi Eyes act as soon as my feet touched the cement. "I know," I said, slightly cheered by the thought.

We walked in comfortable silence for a couple seconds before I heard footsteps behind us. I stopped short, not turning around.

"What's wrong?" Fang backpedaled and glanced around. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm sure." I tried to sound convincing as I kept walking. The sound of footsteps resumed. This time I whipped around so fast that Ella wouldn't have even had a chance to sneeze. And Ella's sneezes are like thunder - total silence, then BAM! Loudest and quickest sneeze EVER.

I caught a flash of someone broad-shouldered swiftly retreating behind a tree, concealed by its shadow. My eyes narrowed and I casually kept walking. The footsteps started again.

"We're being followed," I announced in a low voice.

Fang didn't look surprised. "We can cut through backyards, make them lose the trail."

I shook my head. "I wanna find out what's going on here first."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

I craned my head, trying to catch another glimpse of the person. And I was rewarded; the person was closer this time, and I could easily make out more features without difficulty.

I gasped sharply and balled my hands into angry fists when I recognized the blond hair. "Dylan's following us," I announced in a whisper.

"Shocker," Fang muttered.

"C'mon. Let's cut through here. Or. . ." I paused. "Let's hide behind those bushes, in the corner, see? And we'll unlatch the gate and leave it open so it seems like we cut through the backyard."

"It's worth a shot," Fang admitted. We both sharply veered off the sidewalk and into the stranger's front yard. Fang swiftly unlatched the gate and shoved it open, and we both crouched behind the thick shrubs. They really needed to be trimmed, but for now I was grateful for the complete coverage.

Of course, whenever I have to be quiet I get the giggles. At first I was just snickering under my breath but when I actually started laughing out loud, it became a problem. Fang gave me an alarmed look and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, covering my mouth with his hand. Normally I would've licked his hand, but since I really needed myself to shut up, I went with it.

When Dylan came into view from our hiding place, I tensed all my muscles and held my breath. He looked around in frustration, and apparently didn't see us, because he walked right into the backyard.

Fang and I both breathed a sigh of relief, but held our breath again when we heard Dylan's voice again. He was holding his hand to his ear and it sounded like he was arguing with someone.

"I had sight of them!" he yelled. Pause. "No, they must've hopped a fence or something, because I followed them into someone's backyard, and when I got there, nothing was there." Pause. "I'm trying the best I can!" Pause. "Well, why don't _you_ try getting them to the lab, Jeb, and then you can brag about it?" He clicked something on the device in his ear and angrily stormed off.

Fang and I held our silence for a couple more seconds, fearing he would come back.

"Well," Fang sighed after a little while. "Let's go home."

* * *

><p>That whole day was overall a pretty bad day. I was forced into cheerleading, I almost died, Fang and I almost got killed by some street thugs, and then Dylan tried to follow us home and talked to some weird guy named Jeb over the phone about bringing us to a lab.<p>

Then Ella made it infinitely worse when we got home.

"The cheerleading uniform is purple," she said, holding up the pleated skirt in our school colors.

I hated purple.

* * *

><p><strong>I, on the other hand, adore purple. . .I'm actually painting my 3D glasses with purple nail polish right now lol.<strong>

**A word to the wise: do NOT wear your favorite long sleeved white shirt on the same day that you decide to drink red Powerade at lunch and go out for [chocolate] ice cream after dinner. Oh, and snapping your pen to prove a point to your friend doesn't help either. Cause there goes the white shirt _and_ your manicure.**

**I'm on Twitter now. . .so yeah PM me if you have one too.**

**My dog is gonna be a pumpkin for Halloween, but her pointy ears won't stay in the ear holes on the hood so she just likes walking around with this pathetic rag of fabric hanging around her neck lol. So I don't think she's gonna wear it.**

**Oh, it's midnight. . .oops. . .I guess you guys will just have to read the update tomorrow if you're already asleep. And no it's not tomorrow yet. It's not tomorrow until I wake up, dammit.**

**_*READ PLEASE.*_ I'm almost positive I have a lot of grammar mistakes in this chapter. Something that could be fixed with a beta. . .(hint hint). But I'm not looking yet. I'm looking for the sequel. SO LET ME KNOW IF YOU BETA AND IF YOU'RE INTERESTED.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	40. Don't Be Mad

**When I uploaded this, it was a perfect 3,000 words. WIN.**

**And yes it is inexcusable how late I am with this update.**

**Yes I know, last chapter, boohoo, right? WROOOOONNNGGGG. It's not working out like I thought it would, so I'm just going to continue until I feel it's good to stop. Hopefully not more than three to five chapters, though. When I get the sequel written up, I'll post part of the first chapter on this story a week before I post it as an official story. I'll try to include the summary in the last chapter, but I'm not posititve.**

**And yeah, I was gonna have Max not be a cheerleader, but. . .I dunno. Something just made me change my mind. Still, I'm not happy with this chapter.**

**There's a bit of a time-skip between this chapter and the last chapter. Let's say a week or so, okay? So, Iggy's back at school, Fang said no to the roller-skating thing with Brigid, first football game approaching, get the picture? I'm trying to get past Thanksgiving by the end of the story, so there's gonna be bigger spaces between each chapter. And then when the sequel comes in January it'll be like, Christmas time.**

**Bacon (n) - the main reason you are not a vegetarian.**

* * *

><p>"No!" I screamed, clinging to the bottom post of the steps. "I'm not going!" Ella had her arms around my waist, yanking with all her might to unwrap my stranglehold on the railing. If she really thought it was gonna be that easy, she was really naive. I started screaming at the top of my lungs, non-stop. I can scream without stopping for air for. . .well, I never really timed it. But a really long time.<p>

My scream had the desired effect. Ella quickly backed off, plugging her ears with her hands.

"Girls," my mom said, rushing in in a panic. "GIRLS!" she yelled louder, cutting off my scream. I simply shot Ella a baleful glance and tucked my arms tighter around the railing.

"What the hell is going on?" My mom already had her hair swept up into her usual hairdo, with her makeup and nice clothes on for work.

"Max _knows_ that today's game is mandatory and it's mandatory to wear the uniform to school," Ella spoke up quickly. I shot her another death glare. I'd taken to putting out my clothes on my desk chair the night before and just blindly getting dressed in the morning. Ella had switched my regular clothes for the cheerleading uniform, and I wasn't happy, to put things lightly.

"Max." Mom sighed.

"I don't want to do this." I injected a tremble in my voice, hoping she'd let me off easy.

"You made a commitment. You have to stick with it."

My anger flared up. "_You_ made a commitment _for_ me. I didn't commit to anything."

"Yes, Max, but I worry. It seems like you've been totally giving up on gymnastics ever since we moved here and I worry that you're not getting enough activity. All you do is hang out with Fang, and I worry about that because you know that soon. . .you won't be able to rely on that." The words were hesitant, but they hit me like a punch in the gut.

Mom saw the hurt on my face and sighed. She grabbed my arm and dragged me upstairs, into the bathroom. She quickly locked the door behind us and yelled to Ella that she sure as hell better not eavesdrop or she'd be in some serious trouble. Then she turned to me.

"I'm really sorry," she began.

"I know," I interrupted. I didn't want to hear the sympathy.

"Is cheerleading really so much different from gymnastics?"

"Yes," I answered hastily.

"In what way?" She seemed genuinely curious.

"Everything." She opened her mouth, probably asking me to specify, so I rushed on. "Gymnasts don't put their arms in a V or shout ridiculous things at the audience that just so happen to rhyme. It does _nothing_ to help the football players - it's just distracting. And then there are the perverts." I scowled severly.

"Okay," my mom said calmly, rummaging around in the medicine cabinet. "What about it is like gymnastics?"

I was kinda surprised by that. I had never compared cheerleading to gymnastics. Except in a negative light. "Well. . ." I paused. "The lifts, I guess, are like the stunts."

My mom nodded encouragement. "Is that all?"

I thought about it. "The tumbling," I added reluctantly.

Mom smiled "See?"

I stubbornly shook my head. "I still don't want to do it."

"Oh, just try it. You might like it better than you think you do." She gripped my chin firmly and tilted my face up. "Close your eyes." Confused but obedient, I followed her instructions. I felt something against my eyelid and it took a second to long for me to realize that she was putting makeup on me.

"NOOO!" I bellowed. I broke away and glanced at myself in the mirror. My mom had actually managed to get eyeliner on me. I glared at her, appalled.

"Ella bribed me," she said, acting more childish than I thought my mom was capable of.

"How?" I wailed.

"She's making dinner tonight so I don't have to. Even if what she makes is horrible." She grinned impishly. "Sorry, Max, but you know how much time it takes to cook dinner."

I tuned her out and reached for a tissue. I wetted it under the water and dabbed at my eyes with it. After about the eighteenth dab I realized I wasn't getting very far. I dropped the napkin and stared emotionlessly at my mom in the mirror. "Is this waterproof?" I demanded.

Mom bit her lip and nodded.

"Fine," I said curtly. I turned on my heel and stomped out of the bathroom. Which made me feel ridiculous because the stupid pleats on that stupid skirt were all swirly and way too happy. I tried not to think about what I was wearing or what was on my face or what was in my hair as I swiftly stuffed my feet in my shoes, snatched my backpack, and practically ran out the door.

I shook my head when I reached Fang. "Don't say anything," I warned.

He smirked.

"I'm serious," I growled.

The smirk hung around as he just shrugged. "Whatever. You don't even wanna be told that you really don't look that bad and that your hair looks really pretty like that?"

I scowled deeper and felt heat rush to my cheeks. "No."

He shrugged again, that adorably irritating scowl remaining on his face.

I, personally, hated how I looked. The uniform was mainly purple and white, with some gold lines running through it to complete the patterns. It had our town's initials stamped in bold letters right in the middle of the top. I _hated_ the top - it was like that shirt of Ella's that I'd worn that one day; every time I raised my arms, it slid up. So it was no small wonder why I kept my arms pressed against my sides. Ella had done my hair; she straightened it, then pulled the front of my hair away from my face and tied it up with the bow. I looked totally ridiculous.

I folded my arms haughtily, ready for my Queen Max act. It was useful for when I was pissed off, and right now was no exception.

"I look horrible," I said, not in the mood to be complimented.

"Whatever you want to think, you can think," Fang said.

I lifted my chin. "Good. I will. I do."

He just shrugged _yet again_ and smiled.

God, Fang was so adorably infuriatingly annoyingly gorgeously annoyingly annoying.

(**Word vomit.**)

* * *

><p>"Who are you and what have you done with Max?"<p>

I set my lunch tray down and glared at Gazzy. "I'm the product of Ella and my mom forcing me into things I don't want to do."

"I heard that!" Ella yelled from two tables over.

"Good!" By now people were staring. I flipped them off and smoothed down the infuriating skirt before sitting down. I so did not feel like having it scrunch up.

Gazzy's mouth was flopped open unattractively. I went into Queen Max mode again and lifted my chin. "Catch flies, see if I care." Gazzy immediately shut his mouth.

"Okay, let me get this straight. Maximum Ride, the girl who nearly killed some kid with her history homework - literally - gave in to cheerleading because Ella made her. Is that seriously what I'm hearing?"

I put my hands on my hips. "If you're doubting my ability to beat you to a pulp, you should probably reconsider," I said coolly.

As if to make it worse, J.J., Carolyn, Nudge, and Tess glided by in their cheerleading uniforms, heading for a table full of other cheerleaders. I gagged. Fang, Gazzy, and Iggy cracked up.

Oh, and if you're wondering why Iggy's back, he actually handles being blind really well. Schoolwork and stuff was difficult for him, but he was always sitting with a friend that helped him, like Nudge or me or Fang. Even though he couldn't see what was going on, he just laughed out of habit of laughing with the other boys.

"Go join your cheerleading friends!" Gazzy choked out between loud guffaws.

I pierced him with a death glare, but he was laughing too hard to notice. Fang instantly sobered up and elbowed Gazzy in the ribs and muttered something to him. In turn, Gazzy stopped laughing and stared at me the way a scared mouse would stare at a snake.

"Now you've done it," Iggy muttered, guessing what the new silence at the table meant.

"Shut up, Ig," Gaz said.

"Maybe _you_ should shut up for a while," Fang suggested. "All you're doing is making the situation worse."

I nodded, guru-style. "Maybe Fang should counsel you," I said to Gaz. "Give you a seminar or something. 'How Not to Get Pummeled By Max.' " I smiled cheerfully at the thought. "Then, I wouldn't have to deal with you, and you wouldn't have to worry about me killing you in your sleep."

"I feel so loved," the Gasman muttered under his breath.

"Keep feeling loved," I said cheekily. Gazzy made a face but didn't comment.

* * *

><p>"What do you need, Max?" Nudge didn't actually speak to me, instead smiling and primping herself in the grungy bathroom mirror.<p>

"Okay, so you have like, all this makeup in your purse, right?" I hoped she didn't get the wrong idea.

"Yeah." Her eyes lit up. "Why? Do you - "

"I need makeup remover."

Her face fell. "For what?"

"My mom put this ridiculous waterproof mascara on me this morning. I want it off," I said stubbornly.

"Uh, Max, that's eyeliner," Nudge replied, looking amused.

"It matters?" I hissed. "I need the makeup remover."

"Fine." Nudge dug around in her designer purse and pulled out a bottle. She took out a pack of travel tissues too. "Close your eyes."

"Try anything and you're dead," I said cheerfully, closing my eyes. I heard Nudge grumble something, but chose to ignore it. I felt the damp tissue dabbing at my eyelid. It was cold and left a weird feeling on my eyelid, but I ignored that too and held as still as I could. I knew Nudge was done when suddenly the pressure ceased and I heard the garbage can opening and closing.

I opened my eyes and glanced at myself in the mirror. Perfect. Not a trace of eyeliner remained on my lid. "Thanks."

* * *

><p>Good God, there were so many people here. Why don't these people have a life? Who wants to sit on ice-cold bleachers in forty-degree weather and watch a bunch of guys ram into each other? I'll admit, it's kinda funny to watch them go head over heels - literally. Then they all look like a weird discombobulated spider. (<strong>AN: I love that word. Even if I spelled it wrong.)**

"Look," some girl with long blond curly hair whispered excitedly as we sat in a stupid circle and did our stupid stretches. "Fang is coming toward us. Fang _Thorne_."

The whole group erupted into hysterical giggles, except me, J.J., Tess, Carolyn, and Nudge. We just rolled our eyes at their stupidity.

"Hiiiiiiii Fang!" A girl who I distinctly remembered was named Penelope twirled her hair and waved.

He nodded emotionlessly and came up behind me, kicking me in the leg as I settled into a split.

"Ow," I hissed. "That actually hurt." Without looking, I shot my arm behind me, punching him harshly in the knee. The other girls were staring at me with wide eyes, sending me subtle signals that clearly said _do not make him walk away._ I dismissed them. They were nothing but a bunch of Barbies.

Fang snickered and I twisted around to face him. "Go away," I said with a big fat smile.

"I second that," Nudge said, standing and kicking her leg up to her ear. Everyone followed her lead, watching the exchange with rapt expressions.

"Break a leg out there," Fang said, poking me in the back. I almost fell over backwards, but he put both hands on my waist to steady me, and my leg stayed up. I shot him a dirty look but didn't say anything. Of course, half the cheerleaders were staring daggers at me, because Fang's hands still lingered at my waist.

"Okay," I muttered to him. "You can go now."

He just gave me a Fang Smirk and promptly disappeared into the crowd.

"Okay, so what's going on with you and freaking smoking hot _Fang Thorne_?" that blond girl demanded.

"Nothing." I widened my eyes innocently. "We're friends. _Best_ friends. You understand the concept?"

"Yeah, sure," Lissa hissed. Unfortunately, she'd made the squad as well. "Just friends. Fang kinda made it _very clear_ to me after I broke up with him that you guys are more than that. Probably to unsuccessfully try to make me jealous. Pfft. Why are you such a wuss? You can't admit to us what's going on? It's either that or you're stupid."

I glared coldly at her. "One, Fang broke up with _you_, not the other way around. Two, you're in no position to judge the relationship between me and Fang. And three, if anyone's the wuss, it's you. You just don't want to admit that Fang escaped your clutches." I rolled my eyes at her.

She opened her mouth to respond, but I walked away. I didn't know where I was going, just _away_.

I stood next to the bleachers, hoping that no one would notice me. Have you ever noticed that the last thing I want is usually the first thing I get?

Dylan appeared literally out of nowhere. One second, I was alone (well, as alone as you can get standing next to a crowd of three hundred people), and the next second, Dylan was there, leaning on the bleachers like some Greek god. I blinked and took a hesitant, shocked step back. He smiled lazily at me.

"Sorry about what you saw the other day." He seemed sincere. Dang it, Max, don't you know what a good actor he is? "He's not really a friend of mine. I promise."

"Sure, whatever," I said, heavy on the sarcasm. "That still doesn't explain why you acted like an utter _ass_ and said something about bringing me and Fang to a _lab_." I raised my eyebrows at him, challenging him to explain that.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "When did you hear _that_?"

"When you were talking about it to someone on the phone. _What did you mean?_"

"I meant the door connecting to one of the buildings alongside that alley. You remember that guy?" I nodded reluctantly. "I was talking to him. He was following behind me, to make sure I got you. He had a gun. He's. . .kind of crazy. Literally. He wanted to kill you guys for no reason. From the moment he saw you. He forced me to follow you. If I didn't he would've shot me."

"Convincing story," I spat.

His expression immediately hardened. "I'm not lying. Why would I make this stuff up?"

I shook my head sadly. "I just don't believe you."

Anger flashed in his turquoise eyes. "Whatever, Max. I don't know what I ever saw in you." He turned to leave angrily.

"Wait."

I was shocked to hear the word, practically whispered, come through my own lips. Dylan paused, though, and looked back.

"What?" he demanded impatiently.

"Explain that. 'What you saw in me.' "

He took a deep breath. "I don't have an easy history, Max. Every girlfriend I've had has been in it just for the status of having a boyfriend. My mom and dad aren't. . .good people. I'm adopted." The words were harsh. "I dunno, from the day I met you, you just seemed. . .different. Not like the kind of girl that would want to date someone just because they were bored of their old boyfriends. I really thought I liked you."

"Sorry." Another word vomit. The word came out without my permission, and sounded foreign in my voice.

His eyes softened. "It's okay." Then the strangest expression entered his eyes. He put his big hand under my chin and tilted my head up, leaning closer.

I froze involuntarily. I couldn't force myself to run if I wanted to. And believe me, _I very much wanted to_.

"Max!"

His voice snapped me out of it. I wrenched my head from Dylan's hand, using both my hands and all my strength. I was trying to think through the haze of confusion clouding my brain, but I was finding that simply impossible at the moment. I bent over, breathing hard just for something to do other than stand around and punch myself in the leg for freezing up. What would've happened, if I hadn't been totally snapped out of it?

"What the hell?" Fang was leaning over me, looking protective or pissed off, I wasn't sure.

"I don't know," I mumbled weakly. "I froze." I glanced behind me, but Dylan was gone. "Manipulative liar," I yelled, hoping he was listening. I straightened the long-sleeved Under Armour thingy I wore under my cheerleading uniform to keep from freezing before I looked up into Fang's stoic face.

"You were going to kiss him." The words were emotionless and stiff.

"Correction: He was going to kiss me. But I froze."

Fang clenched his jaw.

"Fang," I began, but was cut off.

"Max! There you are!" Carolyn appeared at the edge of the bleachers. "Come _on_! The game is about to start and we're getting ready. Flirt later!" She grabbed my arm and hauled me away from a still expressionless Fang.

_Don't be mad_, I mouthed to him over my shoulder. He just blinked and turned to head up the stairs of the bleachers and return to his seat.

Where he was sitting next to Brigid.

Just peachy.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't killlll meeeeeeeeeeee. :)<strong>

**I am giddy as hell right now. I don't know why. Because I just wrote an absolutely shameful chapter and I'm going back to school in like nine hours and I have to wake up at five on Halloween because I have to go to band rehearsal. AMAZING, RIGHT?**

**Speaking of. I was at rehearsal the other day, and since the flutes are pretty much the biggest section (the trumpets are two people away from having us beat), so naturally we supply most of the talking in the room. BUT THEN, someone drops their flute, and I'm pretty sure my heart skipped a beat, and the whole flute section grew quiet. So then everyone else grows awkward and quiet and this one percussionist goes "Why's it so quiet?" Meanwhile, the flutes are all horror-struck while everyone is staring at us. The girl almost left the room.  
>And then my friend, who plays the bass in orchestra, almost gagged when he saw how high my music goes. Lol.<strong>

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	41. Not Jealous, Pissed Off

**Author is not happy at the moment. That's all I'm going to say.**

**But PM me to discuss any of the following topics & I'll cheer up; Shannon Mather's FABULOUS ASDFGHJKL choreo cause I can go on forevaaar, how flipping hot Matt Dillon was in his younger ages - not so much now, or how to punch let's see - uh, five people all at once. Or just pu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

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><p><span>Fang POV<span>

Have you ever tried to really focus on something, but your mind is completely elsewhere? Not really the best experience.

I was trying to focus on the game. Even Brigid, who was sitting next to me, was more involved in the game than I was. She was jumping up on the bleachers, waving her arms and screaming out for our football team, and screaming insults at the other team. Well, you can't really call them insults, after hearing Max's list of insults. Hearing Brigid shout that the other team were jelly-legged losers was nothing compared to some of the colorful insults Max concocted.

Max. Sigh. She was most of the reason I was so distracted. When I'd seen her with Dylan, it'd been soo obvious what was about to happen. Even though Max's eyes had been wide with what might've been terror and shock, and it looked like if you poked her with a tiny stick she'd shatter. She was about to let that _freak_ kiss her.

I shook off the sympathetic words in my head. Whatever. Max knew we would probably never be 'just friends' again.

I glanced down at the cheerleaders for the fifteen millionth time. Our school had just scored a touchdown, so of course they were going wild, lifting the other cheerleaders into the air. Max was lifted too, and she forced a smile onto her bleak face. I felt another spasm of guilt but quickly pushed that away.

I wonder what'll happen at school Monday.

**pretend there's a line here. Yes I know that was the shortest little spit of a Fang POV but that's just to kind of get a glimpse into his head. &This is a bit of a time skip too. Let's say middle of the next week, Thursday. Aaaaaaaand - action.**

Max POV

"Come on. Capital of Switzerland. What is it?"

"I don't know," I snapped, looking straight into my supposed best friend's midnight eyes. "Why does it matter?"

"We have to study if we want to keep our heads," he murmured, glancing over at Mrs. Jenner, who was in the middle of barking at another partnership.

"If you want to study, go study with Brigid." I jerked my chin towards the red-head. "And I'll study with Iggy and we'll all be happy."

Fang ignored my words, and flipped to the next flashcard. "Capital of China?"

"Beijing," I muttered halfheartedly.

"Good. One right." He nodded sarcastically.

I folded my arms across my chest. "What's with you?"

He tilted one eyebrow. "Why, what ever do you mean?"

I shot him a sour look. "Quit playing games. You _know_ I'd never willingly kiss Dylan - I _froze_ because I didn't know what to do. My mind was screaming at me to slap the crap outta him, but I couldn't force myself to. And then you go and make a statement, hanging out big time with Brigid and texting her all the time whenever we walk to school. You invited her back to our lunch table and barely have enough time to talk to your real friends. It's always just Brigid, Brigid, Brigid, Brigid - because you're _mad_ and you don't want to admit it!" I sat back. I could feel my eyes portraying my anger and tried to tone it down a notch. Unsuccessfully.

He chuckled through his nose. "You're jealous."

"And you're conceited to jump to conclusions. I'm pissed off, not jealous."

"Isn't it the same thing?"

"_No._"

"You two are studying, correct?" Mrs. Jenner said in a voice that could freeze warm water. I'm proud to say I have the same ability.

"Yes, Mrs. Jenner," I piped up sweetly.

"Name the capital of Switzerland," she barked.

"Bern," I said, a little primly, looking at Fang. He cocked one eyebrow but didn't comment.

This is gonna be a loooong day.

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><p>"Have you guys noticed that Fang's acting a little weird lately?" Carolyn whispered to us, nervously pouring dressing all over her salad and shaking it up. But the lid wasn't closed properly, and tiny pieces of limp lettuce went flying everywhere. I absently flicked a piece off the edge of the table and tuned back in to the conversation.<p>

"Yeah," Iggy muttered. "And I'm _blind_."

"Max? You've noticed, right?" Carolyn widened her big blue eyes at me.

I gave a tiny humorless laugh. "I've more than noticed. I talked to him about it," I announced, ripping a curly fry to pieces.

The other four girls' eyes widened and they leaned in a little closer. The guys just sat back in their chairs and didn't say anything.

"What did you say?" Tess said eagerly.

I shrugged a shoulder. "I pretty much demanded to know what the hell has been going on with him. He acted all innocent and I told him off, and he assumed I was jealous, which got me even more pissed." I viciously threw the handfull of shredded curly fries at Fang's empty seat. The bounced off the back and landed on the plastic seat.

"Hey guys." Fang arrived at the table with you guessed it - Brigid. He pulled back his usual seat and sat down. Right on the curly fries. "What the hell. . .?" He got up and trailed off, dusting off his butt.

I grinned to myself and got up to dump my tray. "See ya," I said, turning away and slinging my new bag over my shoulder. No, it was not a purse - just this cool canvas bag thing that was useful for carrying binders and such. I shoved open the doors of the cafeteria and left.

* * *

><p>I love the thudding of my feet and hands slamming against the mats echoing through the gym. It's a comforting sound. One that I got to know verrry well in Montana.<p>

"I knew you'd be here."

I sighed. "Not in the mood." I tried to get back into my tumbling, but my heart wasn't in it and I wobbled on a cartwheel. A _cartwheel._ The most simple thing I can possibly do. Angry at my failure, I straightened up and shoved Nudge and the other girls aside. I executed a roundoff, continuing into as many back handsprings I was capable of until my core muscles started aching. Luckily, I was far from that point, but had to stop because the bleachers were out, blocking off half the room.

"You always tumble when you're upset," J.J. observed, sitting at the edge of the mat.

"Yeah, well. . ." I trailed off and got a running start, then continued into an aerial.

"That was gorgeous." Carolyn clapped.

I nodded and backed up, doing another one. That one wasn't as good as the first one. I flopped down on the mat, groaning. I sat myself straight up, throwing my arms back. They connected with the mat and I pulled my lower body up, over my head, holding myself in a handstand. My legs were folded a little, so I gritted my teeth and forced my legs to straighten.

Slow clapping. I collapsed onto the mat, irritated that my bubble of concentration was gone. I glared daggers at the girls, but they quickly shook their heads and pointed to the door of the gym, where you guessed it, Fang was slapping his hands together.

Without a word, I got up, yanked my sweats on over my shorts, but couldn't bring myself to slide my sweatshirt on over my favorite blue tank top. I was way too sweaty after tumbling. Without folding up the mat, I took off, brushing past Fang.

"Max." I felt his hands snare around my waist. I easily broke free of his hold and kept walking.

"Go flirt with your girlfriend!" I chuckled as I turned the corner and ran smack into Dylan.

* * *

><p><span>Nudge POV<span>

"You _dumb asshole!_"

I stood up and helped Carolyn and Tess fold up the big mat that Max had been tumbling on. Max is a really good tumbler. And that handstand was awesome before Fang totally screwed everything up.

"What did I do?"

"You're messing up things with Max by hurting her feelings just because you're jealous!" I accused.

"I am not-" J.J. cut him off by stomping harshly on his foot. He inclinded one eyebrow but didn't say anything. I'm pretty sure she didn't even cause him any pain - I've witnessed him and Max when they got in their little tiffs. He'd had much worse. Speaking of.

"Listen," I said, trying to growl like Max did when she was angry with him. "Go apologize to her. Kiss her, hold he hand, I don't care. Just make up being a total asshole!"

He rolled his eyes and turned to leave. "You guys are crazy," he said emotionlessly. "She just keeps pushing me away. What am I supposed to do?"

"You really hurt her feelings, you know," Carolyn burst out angrily.

"With all that Brigid crap," J.J. continued.

"It's not right!" I piped up.

"You're supposed to be best friends," Tess said in what sounded like an accusing voice.

He rolled his eyes again, but this time shoved open the door and left.

"That went well," J.J. said.

* * *

><p><span>Max POV<span>

"Hi, Dylan, bye Dylan, I don't have time to talk, Dylan." I turned my face so he couldn't see my expression, and ducked past.

"Hey, wait!" Dylan called. He jogged up next to me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I hissed, coming to a stop and looking up at him. "Now leave me the hell alone."

Looking offended, Dylan let me go without comment. I practically ran down the hall to my locker, glancing around to make sure that no one was sneaking up on me. I hated when people scared me out of the blue like that.

I easily clicked my lock open and viciously shoved everything in, trading them in for my books for my afternoon classes. I was almost done when suddenly Fang's voice literally came out of nowhere and I shrieked and slammed my finger in my locker. Not very hard, but hard enough that it hurt and it turned red and throbbed a little.

"Screw the world," I yelled loudly, twisting my finger this way and that, examining the mark. I looked up at Fang. "And you, too."

The left corner of his mouth lifted in that half-smirk of his. "Listen, I'm coming here to apologize for being an asshole. It's either you want me to go away and never apologize and things will remain this way until I move and we forget about each other-" I winced noticibly, but he continued "-or I can apologize and we'll go back to being best friends."

Queen Max mode activated. "I'm listening."

"I'm sorry. I guess I reacted to strongly when I saw you and Dylan because obviously you hate that turd." I fought my twitching lips. "At first, I swear, I wasn't hanging out with Brigid just to get you back. She was just at the game and invited me to sit next to her so I said okay. But I really do feel bad about purposely bringing her to lunch. I told her she could sit with us for the rest of the year-"

I groaned.

"Hey, don't gimme that look. Lemme finish." Fang looked at me expectantly.

"I'll be good," I said sullenly.

"So yeah, I'm sorry about that, but it won't be that bad. Promise." He looked down at me, his eyes smoldering.

I blinked, my Queen Max mode shattered. "Yeah, sure. Gotta go to class."

"Wow, thanks," he said, heavy on the sarcasm. "I just poured my heart out to you and all you say is 'I gotta go to class', when lunch hasn't even let out yet."

I huffed at him. "Well, what do _you_ propose we do?"

"Uh, go back to lunch?"

"No. That would ruin the effect of my dramatic exit."

"I see." He looked amused. "Let's just walk around then?"

"Better be outside. Teachers might see us," I pointed out.

"Touche. Let's go." He slipped his arm casually around my waist, but instead of pushing him away like I normally would've, I just sighed and rested my head on his shoulder.

* * *

><p><strong>I felt this chapter was kinda necessary to smooth things over. I don't know. I could barely sleep last night cause all I was thinking about was this. So I eventually got out of bed, started up my computer at four in the morning, started the chapter, and couldn't go back to sleep until I got at least halfway through. So that's why this came the day after my last update.<strong>

**And yeah the Max/Dylan encounter was sooo short.. but I decided Dylan has gotten more than enough of his share of my story.**

**Oh yeah and I was not in a good mood when I wrote the top AN. But then I read through the chapter and got a cheered up a little.. I suppose.**

**What kind of computer sings really well?  
>A Dell.<br>Get it? Cause it sounds like **_**Adele**_**. *cue groans of horror and OOHHHHH I GET IT***

**Okay, so in Health class on Tuesday, my teacher goes; "You'll have a substitute on Friday, and you'll be watching a video." And we were all nice and happy.  
>What she failed to mention was that the video was on the reproductive system, and that she'd given us new seats so I was now sitting in the middle of a group of guys who snickered every time the person said 'ovaries.'<strong>

**Don't you just **_**adore**_** my life.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	42. Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet

**Um, question...**

**Is it possible to kick yourself in the stomach?**

**Because if it is, I did it today...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.**

_Diiiing_.

I did my best to block out the doorbell, hoping the kid would go away.

"Max, get the door!"

"No!"

"_Max!_"

"Uch!" I slapped my pencil down on my math book and stormed toward the door. I pasted a smile on my face and grabbed the bowl of Halloween candy and opened the door. A group of little girls in costumes like the Little Mermaid or something were standing there, holding up their pink plastic pumpkin buckets.

"Trick or treat!" they hollered together.

_Trick_, I thought to myself as I handed out the candy. _I'll trick you into thinking we have no candy and you'll all stop ringing my doorbell five times._

The second they got their Kit Kats, they took off down the driveway without so much as a 'thank you' or a 'happy Halloween'. I slammed the door shut and dropped the candy bowl on the foyer table. This was exausting. How I got saddled with this job, I'll never know.

I sat down and tried my best to concentrate on my math homework, but I was antsy, anticipating the next ring. When it finally did come, I was more irritated than before, if possible.

I stormed over to the door and yanked it open. "Happy Halloween," I said weakly.

"Scary. Max trying to act nice to civilians."

Relief washed through me when I realized the group wasn't composed of annoying eight year olds. "I'd slap you, Ig, but consider yourself lucky this time."

He shrugged. "I will."

Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, and Fang stood on my doorstep. Nudge was out trick or treating with the other girls, including Ella. Gaz, Ig, and Fang had agreed to take Angel out trick or treating. I betcha won't guess what Angel was for Halloween. An angel. I told you you'd never guess.

"Hi, sweetie." I bent down to Angel's level and she beamed her radiant smile at me.

"Hi Max! Look how much candy I have already." She showed me the Barbie pillowcase she'd already filled up halfway.

I smiled. "Awesome. Come in." I held the door open and let Angel trot past, into the living room. I held up a hand to stop the rest of them. "Kids get in free. Minors over the age of ten must pay five bucks each to get in."

"Oh, come on, I'm blind," Iggy griped.

I rolled my eyes but nudged him past. "Go."

"Uh, my sister needs me," Gaz said weakly. I rolled my eyes at that excuse too, but again let him pass.

"That's all for tonight," I said, starting to close the door in Fang's face, but he caught it with his foot. Before I could open my mouth to speak again, he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. When he still didn't pull away after a full seven seconds, I started to panic. What was I supposed to do? What if I died from lack of oxygen? I took a tiny breath through my nose, and that seemed to help.

Fang finally leaned away. There was a glimmer in his eyes that I'd never seen before. I was (thankfully!) able to control my easy blush as I let Fang aside and shut the door.

Angel had dumped her stash of candy on the floor, and the guys were already lounging all over my couch, stuffing fistfuls of candy from the bucket in their mouths.

"Hey!" I yelled, swatting a Twix bar out of Gazzy's hand. "Those are for the kids!"

"Oh, and why do you suddenly care?" Iggy demanded.

"Because."

Gazzy managed to kick me in the back of the knee, which made my leg buckle and I automatically collapsed onto the couch as well. I kicked at Gazzy and Ig, screaming profantity while Angel backed away, watching with wide blue eyes. Fang was trying to grab my elbows and pin them together behind my back, but was quickly finding out that was a battle that was lost before it started. He finally managed to get me off the couch, onto the floor, and pin my hands over my head before I realized what he was doing. I panted, struggling uselessly against Fang's hands. Fang paused too, wiping the black strands of hair out of his face. He sat on the floor next to me, one hand pinning both my wrists down. I arched my back, pushing myself into a backbend, struggling to get free, but after a minute of fruitless trying I slumped defeatedly to the floor.

Iggy was lounging with his head on the floor, and his legs hanging over the back of the couch. Gazzy was absentmindedly rubbing his arm where I'd punched him. Angel had gone back to calmly sorting her candy, as if this was the kind of thing that she saw from her older brother everyday.

Fang gently slid his free arm around my waist and lifted me onto his lap, never letting me go; probably scared that I'd attack the Gasman again. _Or maybe_, a tiny voice in my _head whispered, he's not letting you go because he doesn't want to let you go_.

_Or maybe, _I thought back at the stupid conscience. _This little thing called my conscience should shut up._

"Apologize." Fang nudged me with one of his folded legs.

I shook my head stubbornly, and heard him spit and cough as my dirty blond hair whipped him in the face. I grinned for the first time that night.

"_Max_." Fang's voice was harder. "Say you're sorry."

"I'msorry," I said, tripping to get the words out.

Iggy lifted his head slightly, his pale blue eyes staring at my forehead. He had good aim. "What? I didn't hear you." He put on a faux-confused tone.

I grabbed at a pillow to throw at him, but one of Fang's hands snaked out and caught my wrist.

"No throwing. Just _real_ apologies."

I shook my head again, feeling my hair whip against his face again. "No."

"Then you're not getting free anytime soon."

"We'll see." I settled in to wait. Fang eventually shifted so we were sitting against the couch, watching TV with the boys. The doorbell rang again, but Angel eagerly hopped up to go get it. Little kids are always more ridiculously eager to get the door than older kids are. I just sat around lazily in Fang's lap, surprisingly comfortable, though I'd never admit that. Out loud, at least. I'm safe inside my head from everyone except my conscience.

After a while, Gazzy reached over and started tugging on random strands of my hair, knowing it would annoy me. I glowered at him, but couldn't hit him because my hands were pinned underneath Fang's, and his hold was not one that was easy to slip out of.

_Diiiing_.

"I got it!" Angel practically flew down the two short steps that led into the foyer. I heard the door open, and heard deep voices tauntingly chanting "trick or treat!" I didn't like the sound of that. I sat up straighter, listening. Fang's hold tightened, but I ignored it.

"Stop." Angel's usually sweet voice was now hard and steely. "One only."

"Who's gonna stop me?" a familiar voice teased.

Fang and I shot to our feet at the same time. I practically tripped off his lap, but he practically lifted me straigh off the floor, and we darted into the foyer to see Dylan and a group of three other big-looking guys looming over Angel. Angel's blond curls were practically quivering, she was so scared.

"Something about four douche bags against a six year old just doesn't scream happy Halloween," Fang said coolly.

Angel spun around, looking relieved. She ran at me and I hugged her hard. She was shaking. She'd been terrified, but she didn't want to show it.

Fang stepped closer to the door. I heard Iggy and Gazzy come downstairs, but didn't turn around.

"Get out of here now, or nothing about your Halloween is gonna be happy." Fang could be really freaking threatening when he wanted to be, and right now he wanted to be. Dylan and his buddies took an automatic step back, but that didn't stop Dylan from being the asshole he was.

"You always have to hide behind him, don't you?" Dylan glanced over Fang's shoulder to glare contemptuously at me. "He's always the mighty protecter. You never stand up for yourself."

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm a bit busy comforting the six year old you terrified, but if you want me to personally come out there and hang you from our flagpole by your tongue, that can be arranged."

Dylan looked disgusted. "You're all talk. You never live up to your words."

I gave Angel a gentle push toward Gazzy and Iggy, and they took her back into the living room. I casually took my place next to Fang.

"Trust me, you wouldn't be very happy if I actually punched you," I said nonchalantly.

Dylan turned his face. "Go ahead. I dare you. Punch me in the face."

He didn't think I was actually going to.

Unfortunately for him, underestimating the great Maximum Ride was not the greatest move.

I didn't even hesitate for a second. My fist came up and solidly connected with Dylan's face. He staggered backward, cradling his cheek. Now his friends were all raillied around him, talking loudly. Most of them were cursing us out like there was no tomorrow, but let's ignore that little detail.

The guy from the alleyway, the one with the snake tattoo on his neck, stepped toward me and Fang. "You think you're so tough because you have the guts to punch the runt of the litter in the face. You wouldn't last a night in our gang."

"Bet I would," I snarled, getting in his face. "Here's a tip; underestimating me isn't the best choice, unless your dad is a plastic surgeon and can recreate your face. I suggest you leave. _Right. Now._"

The guy's hand snapped out so quickly that I couldn't even catch the movement with my eyes. His hand grabbed my wrist and he would've twisted it or broken it or something, but Fang's hand was suddenly on his. His expression was truly frightening.

"Let her go," he said calmly, "and things will stay relatively. . .nonviolent."

The guy clearly didn't think Fang was a threat. His hand tightened, and I felt the blood flow to my arm and hand cut off. I involuntarily squeaked with pain.

"I'm only gonna ask you one more time, and then I swear to God, I will kick your trashy ass." I wouldn't ever make the mistake of irritating Fang when he was like this. I was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Go ahead. I dare you."

Fang raised his eyebrows, then swiftly kicked the guy hard in the gut. He winced and his hold momentarily slipped, but he didn't let go.

"Now." I was surprised that Fang could keep a straight face and tone when he was so obviously angry. "Let go of her."

The guy finally let go, and I felt the tingly sensation of my blood rushing to my arms. Fang wrapped his arms around my shoulders from behind, pulling me to his chest.

"C'mon, guys," Snake Tattoo said, turning back to his gang, including Dylan. "Let's go steal some ice from the 7-Eleven." They all agreed and took off. Seriously, who steals ice from a 7-Eleven on Halloween? Is that what the turds who live in alleys get a kick out of?

"How's your wrist?" Fang asked calmly as he shut the door and locked it. He flicked off the porch light, the universal sign for 'go away, kids.'

I rubbed it absentmindedly. "Fine. Come on. Gaz and Ig are probably expecting a big story."

We both reentered the living room, trying to look nonchalant. The truth was, my wrist was throbbing. I was gonna have a heck of a bruise ringing my arm like a bracelet tomorrow morning. Not that I'd let Fang know that. He'd either think I was a weenie for complaining about my wrist, or go into super protective mode and steal me some ice from the 7-Eleven. Neither option was one I'd particularly enjoy. Well, seeing how he'd manage to steal the ice might be entertaining, but still.

"So, what'd they want?" Ig asked. "I heard Max punch someone."

I grinned and sat down. "Dylan. He didn't think I was gonna punch him, but he was stupid to think I wouldn't." I shook my head slowly and pulled my knees up to my chest. I stretched my hand out and quickly combed my fingers through Angel's golden hair. "How're you doing, sweetie?"

She smiled at me. "I'm fine, Max. Thanks."

I smiled back. "Good."

Suddenly the world felt like it was tilting on its axis as my view of the world became slanted and it felt like the hands of some foreign god was picking me up. I thrashed around, disoriented, only to feel stupid when I realized it wasn't a Greek god or something, it was Fang, sitting me on his lap again, in front of the couch.

"Dude, what the hell?"

"You never apologized." I could imagine his eyes sparking with amusement, even though I couldn't really see his face.

I smiled, and twisted around so he could see it.

**Uh my line break button isn't working? Whatever.**

**Okay so guys. On Wednesday we're doing this double feature movie thing in school, and we're watching The Outsiders and West Side Story because they have corresponding themes or something? I don't even know. We just read The Outsiders as a novel for our whole unit. Our units are like basically seperate groups of like a hundred or so students that all take classes together, and they're all named something different. You're paired with another unit that you go to lunch with and stuff. It's kinda confusing.  
>So anyway, my unit and my 'sister unit' both read the same novel. So we're all watching The Outsiders, and we're supposed to either dress up like a 'greaser' or a 'soc.' The 'socs' are like the upper class people, and the 'greasers' are the lower class. We like went over everything that we could wear, for guys and girls, and let's just say I think this is gonna be a really interesting day.<strong>

**Oh my God I was watching one of those Nick shows the other day to try and obtain some of my childhood innocence, and some kid was like 'sing about dinosaurs!' and this dude was like 'No :D!' I was laughing so hard.**

**How do you put up with me, as an author? You probably don't understand anything I say.**

**Okay I'm like rushing out the door to dance and I still have to get my tights on and put my hair in a ponytailsobye**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	43. Cheesy Movie Scene

**You guys don't even **_**know**_** how organized I keep my folders for this story. Like I have a file for this story which is like so carefully organized by chapter number, and then within that file I have the file for the sequel, which contains the drafts I've written for the first few chapters. And no, just because I have my first few chapters, doesn't mean I'm going to post the sequel any sooner. xP**

**Okay seriously, like, my fingers are freezing. Freaking **_**ice**_**, man. THEY'RE DAMN COLD. I'm like, typing a sentence, sitting on my fingers for like five minutes, type another sentence, sit on my fingers for ten minutes, etc, etc, ETCCCCCCCC.**

**Lol and whenever I crack my knuckles my friend says it looks like I'm getting ready for a fist fight.**

**As I was writing this I was taking breaks to practice my flute and then I tried playing our song start to finish with my eyes closed and actually did it, while thinking about a completely different subject. I was actually thinking about my math homework on x & y intercepts. :P**

**Oh so at dance my teacher taught us this trick and we didn't know what it was called so we were trying to name it.  
>Teacher: I don't really know what it's called but it looks really cool.<br>Me: OOH CAN I NAME IT?  
>Teacher: Go ahead.<br>Me: THE VOLDEMORT. :D  
>*Silence*<br>Friend: Why Voldemort?  
>Me: I don't know. I hate Harry Potter.<strong>

**My line break button works again. *dances***

**Disclaimer: I don't own my wacked out line break button, or Adele, or Maximum Ride. Oh, or Hot Chelle Rae. I think that's how you spell it. &Say it.**

* * *

><p>"I'm going to puuuuuuuke." I flopped down on the couch, my arms wrapped around my torso. I'd been sneaking pieces of candy out of my pockets all day from the candy that I'd a) stolen from Gazzy b) stolen from Iggy and c) stolen from unsuspecting civilians' pockets because it was <em>so<em> _obvious_ when people's pockets were loaded with Crunch bars. There were a lot in purses; apparently some girls need to make up for eating next to nothing in the cafeteria just to look like they don't eat much. We all have secrets, don't we?

"So," Fang said with a wicked glint in his eyes, "I should eat the caramel Hershey super bar all by myself?"

I managed to twist around in practically half a second. "NO!" I shouted, clawing at it. "Gimme."

Fang held it over his head.

"You asked for it," I muttered, and dove for it.

I tackled Fang, but he managed to stay in a sitting position, still holding it over his head. I snugly wrapped one arm around his neck from behind in a chokehold and used my grip to haul me up further, my other hand reaching for the chocolate. When that didn't work, I simply pushed myself up further with one leg and grabbed the huge chocolate bar. Fang felt me grab onto it and released the chocolate, but grabbed both my wrists and actually managed to haul me straight off my feet and over his head. Instead of flipping over Fang's head and landing on my back, I hit the ground right on the balls of my feet, like the pro I am. Points for Max.

I punched the air. "Victory is miiine!" I crowed.

"Snacks." Carolyn came into the room holding a tray filled with perfectly frosted and decorated sugar cookies.

I bolted to my feet, the chocolate bar tucked under my arm. I managed to slide two cookies into my palm with my free hand. With no regard for the pretty little lily pads that were perfectly sculpted onto the cookie, frosting form, I practically shoved them both down my throat in less than thirty seconds.

And of course, started choking like the ladylike girl I am.

I felt Iggy's hands against my back, pounding to try to dislodge the crumbs of cookies that'd gotten stuck down my throat. Finally, I felt air go down to my lungs and coughed out the miniscule crumb that'd choked me. Seriously, it was freaking small.

"You okay, Max?" Suddenly everyone was flocking around me, chattering loudly as if a miracle had just occured.

"I'm fine," I hissed. "Everyone slowly back away."

Everyone took a measured step back. Except Fang. He just took a step closer. Jerk.

"Guys, I promised my mom we'd do homework." Carolyn lowered her voice and glanced towards the kitchen. "She's never gonna let you guys come over after school again if we don't actually work." Her face contorted as if someone had just proposed she suck on a handful of sour gummy worms.

"I'm working." I smirked and dropped onto my stomach on the floor. My math book almost flew closed from the breeze, but I caught it and held it open. I glanced at the problem I'd been struggling with and groaned. "Someone help meeeeee," I whined.

"What's the issue?" Iggy grumbled, rolling off the couch and thudding onto the floor next to me. He had pretty good aim.

"I suck at geometry," I whined.

Iggy covered his ears. "You're going to make me go deaf with all of your complaining."

I yanked one of his long, pale hands off of his ear. "Deal," I said. "And help me."

"Alright," Iggy muttered, settling down to listen to me read off the problems. I sighed and decided I might as well get to work. It would be a long afternoon anyway.

* * *

><p>"Did you actually do any of your homework, or did Iggy just give you all of the answers?" I could barely distinguish Fang's eyes in the darkness. They were so black they just looked like two holes going straight through his head. I felt like everytime I looked at him, I was craning my head, as if his eyes were a telescope and I'd see stars through them.<p>

"Iggy gave me the answers," I admitted. "I suck at math." I shifted the strap of my backpack from my right shoulder to my left. If I didn't routinely shift them, I wore up with sore shoulders the next morning, and _no one_ withing a ten-mile radius would escape my complaining.

"Hmm," Fang murmured, like he wasn't really listening. I heard the conversations of everyone else behind us; we'd all opted to walk home, because it was surprisingly nice for a November night. We just hadn't realized it'd start getting dark this early. Our parents knew we'd take a little while to get home - Carolyn lived in the fancier neighborhood in town, where the houses were slightly bigger and there was more land between and behind each house. It was a little further from our houses - about a half hour walk.

"I have a question," Fang said in a quiet, thoughtful voice.

"Shoot," I said lazily, kicking a pebble into the grass.

"You do realize that absolutely everyone has realized that we sort of like each other. . .except me and you?"

Suddenly I was hyper-aware of everything. Did that pebble skitter a little too far? Maybe I should be concerned. Maybe it's radioactive. Oh my God, I need some red velvet cupcakes in the worst way. . .

"Yeah." My lip was going to be cracked and raw and bleeding by the end of the night from the way I was chewing the hell out of it.

Fang hesitated. "Alright, I'm just going to come right out and say it - are we officially dating each other or not?"

Then guess what happened?

My epiphany hit. I wasn't worried about liking Fang and maybe being his girlfriend. It was sort of a relief to have the words out there. . .in the open.

It was unbearably clear what I'd say once Fang's hand found mine. Suuuuch a cheesy, overused line, but it was so true!

I sighed contendedly, my fingers automatically fitting themselves around his. "Yeah."

And seriously, for the first time in almost two freaking _months_, everything felt okay, like I'd wake up in the morning and have nothing to worry about.

Fang kissed the top of my head. "Okay," he said. I heard the smile in his voice.

"Okay," I repeated, and then, because the moment wouldn't be complete without my awkwardness, I burst out laughing, and Fang followed. Soon our whole group was in hysterics. Everyone had stopped. Some of us were holding our stomachs and wiping the tears from our eyes; some were laughing so hard no sound came out, and they just stood there, clapping their hands together like retarded seals. Nudge was on her back in the grass, kicking her feet in the air like she was upside down in a synchronized swimming class that old ladies go to.

"What's so funny?" Gazzy wheezed before breaking into an all-new fit of laughter.

"I don't know!" I shouted. I was bent over at the waist, my hands braced against my knees, laughing so hard I was almost puking/coughing.

Suddenly J.J. started laughing even harder, but it sounded like the kind of cackle that scares small children, and suddenly everyone was in an even more hysterical fit of hysterics. The best thing in the world is when someone's laugh is funnier than the joke. In this case, the joke was nonexistant, but c'mon, you know what I'm saying.

I felt a rush of appreciation for my friends. They were weird. They were quirky. They were different. And would this cheesy movie night be complete without a line like that?

No.

* * *

><p><strong>BLESS YOUR SOUL YOU GOT YOUR HEAD IN THE CLOUDS, SHE MADE A FOOL OUTTA YOU, AND BOY SHE'S BRINGIN' YOU DOWN. SHE MADE YOUR HEART MELT BUT YOU'RE COLD TO THE CORE, NOW RUMOR HAS IT SHE AIN'T GOT YOUR LOVE ANYMORE.<br>I'm sorry that's my favorite song at the moment and I just had to OKAY?  
>Oh &amp; some of the lines relate to Fang &amp; Max in the last book really well. Like the first line is 'she ain't real.' Like hello? CLONE? Sigh. &amp;Then there's 'you &amp; I have history, or don't you remember'. *achem*<strong>

* * *

><p>Well, I'd come to the realization that Thanksgiving was only two weeks away, since it'd been a little over a week since Thanksgiving, and it was time for me to come to the brutal realization:<p>

Fang was moving whether I liked it or not. And this was a case of _not_. I had exactly fifteen days left with my best friend, and that fact never escaped my notice, unfortunately.

It was Thursday night and my homework was done. My mom was making dinner and it smelled really good. So of course, I was wrapped up in a blanket that had little penguins all over it, stationed at my computer, messaging Fang. (**A/N: You have no idea omg.. I'm wrapped up in a penguin blanket right now. Messaging my friend as I write.**)

Max: _My mom is trying to get me to help her cook._  
>Fang: <em>Don't do it. You and Ella are way to young to die tonight.<em>  
>Max: <em>Tonight, tonight..<em>  
>Fang: <em>Do <em>not_ burst out singing Hot Chelle Rae._  
>Max: <em>I shall do what I please. It's been a really really messed up week. . .<em>  
>Fang: <em>Well <em>please_ don't burst out singing that song. It's irritating._  
>Max: <em>How can you say that? That song is my jam.<em>  
>Fang: <em>You have a 'jam'?<em>  
>Max: <em>You see, it's your job to figure these things out. It's not my job to tell you<em>.  
>Fang: <em>I seeeeeeeeeee<em>.

I hesitated, my fingers over the keys. It was so tempting. Do I do it? I'm riding on a wave of emotions. Oh God. Don't do it. Will I do it? I carefully pressed the I. Then the spacebar. Then the L. To the O. To the V. To the E. . .

_I love you_.

I stared at it in the box. I didn't know if I should send it. Best friends tell each other they love each other all the time. But it was different when your best friend also happened to be your boyfriend. And when you're both merely _fourteen_.

"MAX! DINNER!"

I jumped and swiftly deleted the letters. Instead I typed _gotta go, dinner. bye._

It doesn't have that same warm fuzzy feeling. But it'll pass.

Probably. Maybe. Most likely not.

Ah, what?

Forget it.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay so yeah? My stomach hurts like a mofo.<strong>

**My friend doesn't understand how I'm failing math when I can understand complicated French dance termonology. Like my dance teacher will talk at me in French & I'll do what she says. And yeah, I just told you about the Voldemort, right? Hey, to prove you read my AN's, write something about the Voldemort trick, failing math, or French dance termonology in your review. Cause I'm gonna start putting some really important crap down here.**

**So my friend told me that this guy has been staring at me in Spanish.. so whenever she catches him she whispers 'peek a boo' to me. It's starting to get a little repetitive. Especially when I was so tired I almost said peek a boo when my teacher asked me what kind of food I like to eat.**

**So heres all the ways I accidentally hurt myself this week.. Sunday I kicked myself in the stomach.. again. Monday I poked myself with a pencil and found out that my cat does not, in fact, enjoy having her tummy tickled, hence the new scratch on my thumb. Tuesday I took my old jazz shoes to dance instead of my new ones and they pinched my toes. Wednesday was remarkably injury free. Wait I'm pretty sure I closed a cabinet and it bounced back and hit me in the head. Thursday I gave myself a paper cut by accident. . .and today, I actually did not inflict pain on myself. I just got elbowed in the head at my locker and ended up complaining about it for like ever**

**Golly gee wilickers that's long. I'm sorry. I rant.**

_**Sweaty monkey balls.  
><strong>_**Now that I have your attention, review please! You might not believe me, but your reviews inspire me to get the next chapter up faster.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	44. The Dilemma With Cookie Dough

**Okay so my struggle in social studies.  
>Me: *yells NOOOOOOOOO really loud*<br>Everyone: What?  
>Me: NO OH MY GOD MY LIFE IS FREAKING ENDING.<br>My friend: What this time?  
>Me: I dropped my pencil and I can't reach it. D:<br>So then everyone started laughing even though I was being completely one hundred percent serious... I got someone to pick it up for me so I didn't have to bend down. I mean hard work never killed anybody, but honestly, why take a chance. And seriously that's what I do whenever I drop something.. luckily it doesn't happen often.**

**I'm not usually that lazy. I was just lazy that day.**

**That awkward moment when a sentence doesn't end the way you think it octopus.**

**OH RIGHT MY BAD JOKE!  
>"Knock knock."<br>"Who's there?"  
>"Woo."<br>"Woo who?"  
>"Woo-hoo!"<strong>

**Disclaimer: I didn't own Maximum Ride before, and I don't own it after.**

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><p>"Hold it!" I screamed. "All the way up!"<p>

"I can't!" Ella wailed.

"Hold it!" Fang yelled, backing me up. He was doing nothing but sitting on my patio in a plastic chair, draining the water bottles that were supposed to be for us. Meanwhile, me and Ella's clothing was glued to us with sweat.

Against all the yelling and prompting and coaxing, Ella's leg snapped back down to the mat. I groaned and fell backwards onto my butt. A whole afternoon of training for virtually nothing.

"I'm sorry!" Ella yelled with a pout. She stormed over to the patio and snatched one of the untouched water bottles from the table. "I guess I'll just go through my life without learning how to do a bow and arrow, because you're not teaching me!" She gulped water.

"I've been trying to help you for an _hour_," I ground out between my teeth. Ella shrugged. I threw my hands up. "I give up," I groaned, and plopped down in a chair next to Fang.

Fang pressed his knee against mine, and for once my face didn't turn the color of the tomatoes my mom was dicing in the kitchen. It was just. . .natural, by now. Kinda nice, y'know?

"I'm gonna take a shower," I decided, standing up again.

"Wait!" Ella shrieked.

I took a deep breath and paused, my fist wrapped around the door handle. "What," I snapped.

"I thought you were gonna help me with my aerials," she whined.

I swiveled around to face her again. "You refuse to learn anything, so explain to me again how I'm supposed to teach you an aerial if you're not gonna cooperate." I raised my eyebrows at her and put my hands on my hips. I was right, and she totally knew it.

"Pleeeease," she begged. "It would be so amazingly cool if I could learn how to do an aerial."

I glared at her as I slowly dragged my feet over to the mat. "I'll demonstrate it and give you a few pointers, but that's it."

Ella grinned victoriously. "That's all I need."

* * *

><p>Ella and Mom actually managed to coax me into something relatively nice for Thanksgiving. It was a little white fluttery t-shirt thing. They'd tried to get me into a skirt, and when that failed, nice pants, but I still refused. I managed to get past with just a plain pair of clean jeans.<p>

I plopped down on the banister and slid down until I flew off at the landing. I almost slammed into the railing but managed to catch myself, at least. Then I jumped down the last four steps and landed with a thud.

"Goodness, Max, come downstairs like a human being!" my mom yelled from the kitchen.

"K'cool," I blurted, rushing the words out. I skidded across the foyer and darted into the living room. "You." I pointed at Fang. "Come." I jerked my head towards the front door.

Fang pushed the pillow off his lap and stood up. Nudge and Ella didn't look like they'd be finished with each others makeup anytime soon, and our parents were totally occupied with obsessing over Thanksgiving dinner. It was the perfect oppurtinity to slip out the front door unnoticed.

"Alright, you first," I said. I reached under one of the cushions on the deck chairs and slipped out my flat package. Fang and I had agreed to get each other gifts that would remind us of each other before he moved. It made a lump appear in my throat just thinking about it, but I braved it and sat on the railing, facing Fang as he leaned against the rail next to me.

"At least try to like it, okay?" he said seriously.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever it is, I guarentee I'll like it."

This time he rolled his eyes, and handed me a tiny white box thingy. Curiously, I lifted the lid to find a little necklace inside. Cliche? Totally. Girly? Totally. Amazing? Totally. The charm was a tiny F, black stones set into the silver letter. And I loved it, despite my total aversion to jewelery. And despite the total clicheness.

I carefully pressed my finger to the tiny charm. It was barely as big as the tip of my pinky finger.

Fang's finger tried to tilt my chin up, but I swatted it away so I could keep looking at the necklace. It was just so awesome! Most people would want a charm that had their own initial on it, but I'd much prefer Fang's initial.

"Max," Fang said in a pleading voice. "I'm dying here. Please tell me what you think?"

I looked up and thrust it into his hands. He actually looked upset for a second before I demanded, "Put it on for me."

He smiled and motioned for me to turn around. I swung my legs around the other side of the railing while he latched the necklace around my neck with a light touch. "Does that mean you like it?"

I spun around again as I felt the charm settle into the hollow of my collarbone. "Of course I do," I said, putting on a _duh_ tone. "It's perfect."

"Your turn." Fang gave a tiny smile.

I reached around him and grabbed the package off the chair. I shoved it into his hands. "Here." I suddenly understood how Fang felt; I was totally nervous that he wasn't gonna like my present.

He opened it and just traced the satiny cover of the photo album for a second. I don't really know what's with us and the cliche gifts. The picture in the front cover was one of us - Fang was actually smiling slightly. I was smiling a little bigger. We were hugging; my arms were around his neck, and his were around my waist. Nudge had taken it only a week before and rushed to get it developed for me.

Fang gave a tiny, gentle smile and flipped it open. The rest of the album was filled with pictures of us over the past few months - from lunch, shoving chicken nuggets in each others' faces, walking home from school, me slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, me tickling him, him tackling me from behind. Most of the pictures were courtesy of Ella, Nudge, Tess, J.J., and Carolyn. There were even some group pictures - pictures my mom had taken of me and the other girls doing cheerleading stunts with Fang in the corner making a face, pictures from the park, things like that.

Was it just me, or were Fang's eyes shinier than usual? He wasn't crying. He'd never cry. And he didn't, not really. He might've teared up, but Fang had the uncanny ability to make his tears disappear in a second. He placed the photo album down carefully on the deck chair and caught me in a big bear hug.

"I'm gonna miss you," I muttered.

"Yeah," Fang agreed. "I'll miss you too."

"You have to call me every day after school, okay?" I said, abruptly more serious. I pulled away to look at his face. "You have to promise. Or else I swear to God, I am not even half kidding, I will track down this house of yours and come over there and chatter about my day. I don't care if it takes two plane rides and an hour walk, I will do it."

"I'd never doubt you would." Fang slipped his arms around my waist again and kissed me. I hesitantly hooked my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I felt him smile against my lips and I couldn't help but smile back and giggle.

"I love you," Fang muttered.

My eyes widened. No matter how surprised I was, there wasn't a beat of pause before I said, "I love you too."

And that was that.

* * *

><p><strong>I'M A SAPPY SAP SAP SAAAAAAAP! I have floor burn on my ankle like hella bad. I didn't realize it til after dance though. Oh, and something I hate - going to a store after dance while still in shorts, tights, and a tank top, and having people stare at you like what the hell are you doing wearing shorts in winter. It irritates me.<strong>

**Dancin in the daaaaark . . . this is the second to last chapter. Okay. This is just a line break. I thought I'd give you some time to stew over that. Cause when I went to post this chapter from here, my internet decided to say "HAHA, JOKES ON YOU CAUSE I'M JUST GONNA FAIL ON YOU TONIGHT!" So I ended up writing more to make this chapter longer. I was gonna make this the last chapter, but I decided to not just drop the last chapter like that and walk away til January. So, one chapter warning. Sorry about that.**

* * *

><p>I struggled to shape the cookie dough onto the cookie sheet, but it just wasn't cooperating. No matter how hard I tried. I mean, why is it that pumpkin cookie dough, specifically, always has the most issues with me? Last year, on Thanksgiving. . .let's just say I ate some raw cookie dough and it didn't turn out okay.<p>

"I give up." I dropped the spoon and pushed the mixing bowl towards Fang. "You try."

Fang shook his head and took a spoonful of cookie dough. He shook it neatly onto the cookie tray and went for another glob. He actually managed to get them into a perfectly straight row.

"No fair." I scooped out a spoonful and tried to arrange it as neatly as he had. When it didn't work out, I peeled it off the tray in frustration. "You suck!" I cried, tossing the dough ball at him.

"Woah!" He jumped out of the way and it hit the cabinet and slid off. "Why throw food?"

"Because you're better at baking cookies than I am, and that is not right."

He flung a spoonful at me, but I put my hands out to protect myself, and it stuck to my palm. I hurled it back, and pegged him on the forehead. I started cracking up but stepped forward and peeled it off his forehead before promptly mashing it into his hair. I was in hysterics.

His eyes were wide, amused. He peeled a dollop of dough off the tray and mashed it into my hair. It wasn't long before we were shouting at each other and slapping each others heads with dough.

"MAXIMUM RIDE WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

I turned slowly. My hands were caked with cookie dough, and Fang's hand was still in my hair, which was tangled with cookie dough. "Yes?"

My mom stormed into the kitchen. "You kids are ruining everything!" She carefully wetted a sponge and cleaned off the counter. Then she turned to us. "Go," she commanded. "Go upstairs, clean each others' hair off, and come back down here to clean this up." She pointed to the dough that we'd dropped on the floor and then stepped in. "You'll need a mop. And multiple rags. If I were you, I'd get moving."

"Yes, Mom," I muttered obediently. I grabbed Fang's wrist and towed him upstairs and into the bathroom. "I'm not gonna be able to get this out on my own without taking a shower, so you have to help me, and vice versa. Alright?" He nodded mutely. "Hang your head over the bathtub. You can just lean against it and put your head in backwards, or like crouch over it and hang your head in. Either way works." I grabbed the shampoo and started the water. "Try not to get your shirt wet."

"That's your job," Fang muttered as he leaned up against the tub and dipped his head backwards. "You're the one washing the stuff out of my hair."

"You're the one who got it in your hair."

His eyes snapped open. "You're the one who smashed it in my hair."

"You started it," I insisted, unphased.

Fang chuckled and leaned his head back again. "Sure, Max. You're the one who screamed at me for being able to make cookies and _I'm_ the one who started it."

I smacked his arm. "Just close your eyes."

He eyed the bottle of shampoo, worried. "Isn't that woman's shampoo?"

"Yeah. So? Shampoo is shampoo."

"I don't wanna frolick around smelling like a field of flowers."

I rolled my eyes. "It doesn't smell like flowers. It just smells like baby powder. It's an innocent scent, and much better than _eau de pumkin cookie dough_. Just lean your head back."

"I don't wanna smell like a baby's butt either."

"Damnit Fang, just lean your head back!" I shouted. He grinned and rested his neck against the side of the tub again, closing his eyes. I used a plastic cup thingy from the counter to wet his hair, and then started rinsing the cookie dough out of his hair. I hesitantly combed my fingers through his hair, getting more of the cookie dough out before filling my palms with the shampoo and running that through his hair.

"I feel like I'm getting a massage," Fang said, eyes still closed.

"Enjoy it while it lasts, cause it's not gonna last for very long." I rolled my eyes, then realized his eyes were closed and it was a wasted effort. "By the way, I just rolled my eyes at you, but you couldn't see it."

He smirked. "Of course you did."

I ignored him, and concentrated on filling up the cup with water again and dumping it over his head to get the shampoo out. I rinsed it a couple more times before shutting off the water. "Don't move," I warned, "or water is gonna run down your back and it's gonna be uncomfortable as hell." Fang stayed where he was while I grabbed a towel and handed it to him. He tucked it under his neck and rumpled his hair with it while I waited. Once he decided his hair was sufficiently dry, he plopped the towel down on the floor and scooted away from the tub so I could take his place.

"Take it easy on my hair," I muttered. "I'm not a hair maniac like Ella, but I do like my hair and I don't want it mangled beyond repair."

Fang smirked again. "Gotcha," he said as he turned on the water again. I glowered at him once again before closing my eyes and leaning my head back. I felt Fang pour water into my hair and almost instantly felt my hair get heavier with the weight of the water. I felt him rinse it a couple more times, and then felt his hands in my hair.

"You're right, this does feel like a massage," I agreed.

Fang's hands disappeared for a second, and then I felt the cold shampoo against my head. "Yeah. I know."

I had to force myself not to sigh contentedly. I was literally seconds away from passing out right then and there. The water was warm and for some reason my position wasn't uncomfortable, even though the tiles of the floor were cold and the edge of the tub was pressing into my neck. Combine that with Fang practically massaging my head and the baby-powder shampoo smell and I was so about to fall asleep.

Suddenly I felt a cup of water crashing down on my head, and this time miniscule rivers off water slithered down my cheeks. "Fang!" I screeched. "Better aim, please. The water is dripping down my face."

"Oops." He sounded too amused for it to have been an accident.

I would've punched him, but I didn't know where he was, with my eyes closed. Seconds later the water went off and Fang lifted my head and slipped a towel under my neck. Yeah, he just casually lifted up my head. I don't know either. He helped me wrap my hair up in the towel so my hair was piled over my head and not dripping down my back.

"There." Fang's fingers brushed my cheek as he dropped his hand back to his side. "Let's go clean up the kitchen!" he said with mock enthusiasm. He grabbed my hand.

I tightened my fingers around his. "Let's," I agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>Reminder: Second to last chapter. If you don't read my AN's, don't say it didn't warn yooou! ... xD If I haven't mentioned it yet.. I'm writing something in between this and January.. I'm gonna try Twilight fiction. Oh dear Lord wish me luck. It's most likely gonna flop. It's just gonna be like drabbles and such. So if it sounds like it'd be up your alley, keep your eyes peeled (not literally, ew) for it. It's gonna be called Under The Driftwood Tree.<strong>

**I'm eating grapes :3 and I hafta pee but I really wanted to upload this.**

**I got new black flats today for my concert. Yay me.**

**OOOOH I HAVE .. UNO, DOS MORE JOKES FOR YOU!  
>What did the cow say to the motivational speaker?<br>Your speech moooooved me.**

**What did the 0 say to the 8?  
>Nice belt.<strong>

**I am so hilarious I don't even.**

**-dancerxforlifex3**


	45. Goodbyes

**Thank you guys times ten for the awesome reviews on the last chapter :)**

**So yeah, I feel weird cause this is the last chapter. Like seriously weird. I won't be able to spend time brainstorming for this anymore. . .until January. By the way I dunno when in January I'm gonna post the sequel so like expect the worst cause I'm a major procrastinator. . . knowing me, I'll hold off until like January 31. -_- But I'll try not to do that. Oh and most likely it's gonna be called From Where You Are. As in, the Lifehouse song? Never heard it? Yes? No? Okay. I was just listening to it the other day and thought of the sequel and I just suddenly said out loud 'yep, that's what I'm gonna call it' and it was just so random. But yes, that's gonna be the title. It's in no way a songfic though. It's just an idea that popped into my head.**

**I'm listening to We Found Love right now :D Which means that like I'm in a really upbeat mood. Like so optimistic. HELLYEAH.**

**Oh my God guys I auditioned for a flute solo the other day and we find out who gets it on Monday. I'm so scared that I'll get it and squeak onstage, and so scared I won't get it and I'll be bitterly disappointed.**

**I mustache you a question, but I'll shave it for later.**

**Oh and make sure to read the bottom AN if you're interested in the sequel.**

**A few questions for you to ponder:  
>When they first invented the clock, how did they know what time to set it to?<br>What do you call a male ladybug?  
>If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does that make him disoriented?<br>Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?  
>If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?<strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't Maximum Ride.**

* * *

><p>"Max? What're you thankful for?"<p>

I looked up from my plate and tried to force myself to chew slower. What? I'm a gymnast. Do you know how many calories I need to have to keep up with how much I burn? "I'm thankful for anything that's yummy and warm and chocolate." I smirked and slowly took a sip of root beer.

My mom glared at me. "Anything else?"

I easily caught the 'say something deep and emotional' gist of her words. I just didn't really want to. "Uh, I'm thankful for friends and family and not being homeless," I said cheerfully. My mom sighed. I know I totally could've phrased that better, but hey, that's me.

"Nudge?"

"Well, I'm thankful for Marc Jacobs, because I really like his new line of shoes. And I'm thankful for rainbow sprinkles because they taste good and make your ice cream look good. And I'm really thankful for all this food cause it's so yummy and some people don't have food. And I'm really thankful that the whole tacky glitter is fading out, but it's supposed to be big for winter." She looked disgusted. "And I'm thankful for Guess wallets, and cashmere scarves and hats. And the new funding that's being donated to the arts and sports departments so we can get better tumbling mats that aren't all ripped up for when we have to practice inside for winter cheerleading. And-"

"That's good, Nudge, thanks," Kate said smoothly. "Ella?"

Ella looked up. "I'm thankful that my hair is finally longer. And for food and a big house and moving here and finding so many new friends." She looked back down again, under the table, and my guess was that she was texting.

"Are you thankful for your cell phone, too?" I prompted.

Ella crinkled her slim eyebrows at me. "Uh, sure. Why?"

"Because you've been texting under the table for like the past half hour and you didn't mention it. So I was just wondering." Her eyes widened in the way that told me she was about to deny it, so I went on. "Oh, don't try to lie. You're so bad at hiding it. I've been texting during class forever so I can text without looking. But you, you're so obvious about it."

"Ella Martinez!" Mom looked shocked. "You will hand over your cell phone this _instant_!" She looked supremely embarassed.

"Don't worry." Kate patted Mom's hand. "Nudge does the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if they were texting each other from across the table." She raised her eyebrows at her daughter, and Nudge looked alarmed.

"I'm not texting!" Nudge exclaimed, holding her hands up. "My phone is over there!" She pointed to the Coach wristlet on the counter. Her phone was on top of it.

"Okay, okay, calm down, love," Kate chuckled. Nudge was instantly calmer. She soaked her turkey in gravy and quickly dug in.

Kate laughed and turned to Fang. "What're you thankful for?"

"Food. A house. Family. Education. Friends." There was a slight emphasis on the last word as he stared straight at me. I gave him a soft smile and looked down before out mothers could start pestering us with a million questions. I could just see it know; 'What was that little look about?' 'Fang, why is your body tilted toward Max's at a seventy-two point nine angle?' I could see them doing that.

Then Mom and Kate started chatting it up about all that adult crap, while Fang's dad remained calmly quiet, eating at a measured pace and looking content and happy. Not like the lonely loser at the party, like the guy that's sitting alone because he wants some time to himself to think.

And then there was Nudge and Ella, chattering endlessly to each other. I picked out the words 'cheap,' 'glitter,' 'Sephora,' and 'mall' an awful lot. That's _never_ a good sign. They were planning some kind of mall date, I was sure of it.

Fang and I just murmured to each other through the whole meal. Just passing thoughts, plans to see each other after he moved, times we'd call each other in between classes, that kind of thing.

And then I heard the moving truck pull up outside.

Freaking _fantastic_.

* * *

><p>That truck was <em>huge<em>. The worker guys got right to work after Kate went across the street to let them in. Fang's dad stayed with them, mostly, as they transfered their furniture and boxes into the truck. I sat on the couch that was positioned in front of the bay window, my chin resting on my folded hands. I felt like one of those dogs that have the constantly folded up and depressed-looking faces.

I felt someone sit down on the couch and then someone's hands were combing lightly through my hair. I'd smoothed it out really nice before, and for once it wasn't all tangled. Fang's hands lightly patted my hair back into place against the back of my neck and I huffed out a big breath.

"I'm already depressed," I mumbled. Gosh, can we say negativity? I swear, I didn't used to be this negative over stuff like this.

"Don't be," Fang said. His voice was surprisingly gentle. I still didn't look up. I was staring sullenly at the beefy moving guys and were pushing rolling carts loaded with boxes into the truck.

"Too late," I mumbled halfheartedly, aimlessly twirling my hair around my index finger.

He was quiet for a second. "I keep wishing I could think of some way to force my mom to let me stay. To say 'Okay, that's great, you found a new house, but I want to stay here.' And I'm just coming up blank. There's no way in hell my mom's gonna leave and move like an hour away without me."

My interest sparked a little. "How far?" I asked. My voice still sounded kinda bland and lifeless.

"An hour, more or less." He gathered my hair up and swept it over my shoulder. It tickled, but I didn't feel like laughing. I twisted around again and watched as the movers shouted to one another and waved clipboards with stacks of paper clipped onto them.

"That's far," I said. My response was somewhat delayed.

"Yeah. We'll see each other. I swear to it, Max."

I barely nodded. "I know."

I heard him sigh. "Don't be like that, okay? Please stop being all depressed and doomy-gloomy."

"What's the point?" I mumbled. I'm optimistic, I know.

I heard a tiny silence and glanced up at him. He was just looking at me and I felt the intense need to hide my face, but resisted. "For me?" he said, like he was testing the words. I groaned and sat up straight. He totally knew that was the one thing I wouldn't be able to say no to. I threaded my fingers through his and stood.

"Dessert?" he asked.

My smile returned with a vengeance. "Oh, yeah. Dessert."

* * *

><p>"Don't do it!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs. "I'm gonna puke on you!"<p>

My mom had invited the rest of our friends over after dessert, with their parents. So now, of course, our patio was packed with half-drunk parents giggling and eating Tostitos while us kids ran around the lawn hollering at the top of our lungs.

Fang had me under the arms, and Iggy was holding my feet. They were swinging me back and forth like I was a bag of flour, and were about to test my ability to land perfectly on the tumbling mat that was set up on the lawn. My parents used to do the same thing to me when I was like, four. Everyone else stood to the side, laughing and letting them do it. I was really starting to feel queasy.

"Count of three?" Iggy asked with a grin.

"Sure," Fang agreed.

"Wait!" I yelled shrilly. I glanced up at Fang. "Don't do it." Then I remembered what he'd used against me earlier. "For me?"

Fang groaned, defeated, and told Iggy to let my feet go. Once he did, I planted my feet on the ground, and with Fang's help, stood myself upright.

"You're a demon," Fang said.

"Thanks."

"Now what?" Nudge asked gloomily, sitting down on the mat.

"Max should give us an after-dinner show," Gazzy suggested, sitting around the edge of the mat. "You know, acrobat stuff."

My eyes widened. "No."

"Please!" Everyone yelled at slightly different times.

"No," I repeated.

Carolyn and Nudge busted out the Bambi eyes, while Fang yelled, "For me?" like a million times. Gazzy and Iggy just kept yelling please over and over again, and J.J. and Tess were both giving me a thumbs-up. I groaned.

"Why?" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Carolyn shrugged. "It's fun."

"I'm wearing jeans," I pointed out.

"Just do something," Nudge pouted.

I finally just shook my head. "No. I'm tired." I moved to the side of the mat and sat down on Fang's lap. He was surprised for a second, and then his arms slowly came up around my waist. No one said anything about it. They didn't even have to ask. It was pretty obvious Fang and I had made it semi-official. If by official you mean we didn't cringe away from contact in front of other people and finally acknowledged each other as 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' in our heads, then yeah, it was official.

I love how everything in my life falls into place just in time for it to fall apart. Ironic, isn't it?

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><p><strong>Hi. Really sorry for all the scene changes, but I'm kinda jumpy and.. frantic right know and it's coming through in my writing. Last scene change. Promise.<strong>

**Remeber, read the bottom AN if you're interested in the sequel. Not kidding. READREADREADREADREAD. Seriously, don't miss out on it.**

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><p>I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the door. The big red door was open, but I was staring through the screen door, at the house across the street. My fingers were wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate as if it would kill me to let go.<p>

The moving van had cleared away from the front of the house really late last night. According to Fang's mom, they were going to park the truck in front of their new house and go home for the night. They'd stay in a hotel until morning, then go and help the movers unpack the truck and settle down in their new home.

I'd cried countless times after Fang left last night. Before he'd left, when we were alone in the kitchen, he'd kissed me for a really long time. It made me feel really warm and nice inside, but really freaking crappy once his mom started hollering for him that it was time to go. He hadn't let go of me, instead grabbing hold of my hand and dragging me into the foyer with him, where everyone was exchanging tearful good-byes and promises to call each other and stay in touch.

When his mom had gathered her things and and gotten her jacket on, Fang had given me such a tight hug that I found it difficult to breathe. I had held on to him for as long as I could before his mom gently reminded him it was time to go. Then we both reluctantly pulled away and kissed my forehead before leaving with his family.

My hands wandered up to my collarbone, where the necklace Fang had given me rested in the hollow of my throat. I fingered it gently. It was the best reminder of Fang, ever. It was the perfect gift. The best thing he could've possibly given me.

The heavens seemed to decide they were sad at the same time I did, because the sky opened up and poured rain all over everything just as the first tear slipped down my cheek.

Life's cruel.

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><p><strong>Oh my God, that's the end of my first story. It feels so weird. Being story-less. Holy crap. I'm gonna have to post my next story ASAP for fear of falling into a pointless abyss. If I spelled that right.<strong>

**So yeah you guys are all so amazing for reviewing every chapter :) I've never been a really good person with endings, so I'm not gonna go into overdramatic speeches here. I'm just saying, it's really awesome how much you guys supported me and encouraged me. So, THANK YOU :)**

***FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE SEQUEL* Alright, so I decided that when I write the sequel, I'd be willing to PM anyone that's interested and let them know I posted it. So honestly, if you want me to PM you when the sequel's up, I WILL do it, regardless of how long it takes. But YOU MUST TELL ME. Tell me in a review or a PM if you want to. It's not gonna be anything big, just a 'hey, heads up, the sequel is posted.'**

**And I've finally decided on a title for the sequel and rewritten the first two chapters already (I mentioned this in the top AN). It'll be called From Where You Are. I kinda stole that from Lifehouse; that's the title of one of their songs and I was just humming it the other day and went with it as the title. So, yeah. If you wanna listen to the song you can. But please know that it is NOT a songfic in anyway. :)**

**Well, goodbye til January!**

**-A pretty dang depressed dancerxforlifex3**


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